Pt'oblems 


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BV  4501  .M663  1899 
Morgan,  G.  Campbell  1863 

1945. 
Life  problems 


Life  Problems 


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Life  Problems 


"^        a 


Rev.  G.  CAMPBELL  MORGAN 

Pastor  of  New  Court  Congregational  Churchy  Tol- 
lington^  London 


New  York        Chicago        Toronto 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

Publishers  of  Evangelical  Literature 


Copyright,  1899 

by 

FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


Contents 

I 

PACE 

Self 

.      7 

II 

Environment     .        .        .        . 

•    33 

Ill 

Heredity.         .        .        .        . 

'     57 

IV 

Spiritual  Antagonism 

.     8i 

V 

Influence  

.  103 

VI 
Destiny 125 


SELF 


"  When  I  consider  Thy  heavens,  the  work  of  Thy 
fingers,  the  moon  and  the  stars  which  Thou  hast  or- 
dained :  What  is  man  that  Thou  art  mindful  of  him» 
and  the  son  of  man  that  Thou  visitest  him  ? " — 
Psalm  viii.  3,  4. 


SELF 

In  the  second  of  these  verses  the  writer 
enunciates  the  first  great  problem  of  every 
human  life,  and  it  is  a  problem  which 
encompasses  all  others.  The  old  philos- 
ophers and  teachers  summed  up  their 
philosophy  and  teaching  in  that  one 
phrase,  "Man,  know  thyself."  And  if 
man  can  but  know  himself,  there  will 
be  no  problem  that  he  has  not  solved. 
When  man  truly  knows  himself,  and 
has  unravelled  the  mysteries  of  his  own 
existence,  and  fathomed  all  the  deeps  of 
his  own  being,  then,  surely,  he  will  also 
have  discovered  God,  the  Creator  and 
Sustainer. 

By  that  knowledge  of  himself,  he  will 
have  learned  also  the  problem  of  his 
brother-man,  and  so  have  entered  into 
the  realization  of  the  great  brotherhood 

9 


10  Life  Problems 

of  humanity.  By  thai  knowledge  of 
himself,  and  of  the  possibilities  of  his 
nature,  he  will  have  come  to  understand 
that  strange,  almost  meaningless  ex- 
pression, so  often  upon  our  lips,  and  so 
little  understood,  "Eternity."  When  man 
knows  himself,  then  he  will  have  dis- 
covered also  the  secrets  of  nature,  and 
will  be  at  home  amid  all  their  varied  and 
varying  avenues.    Tennyson  sang  truly — 

"  Flower  in  the  crannied  wall, 

I  pluck  you  out  of  the  cranny ; 

Hold  you  here  in  my  hand. 
Little  flower,  root  and  all  — 

And  if  I  could  understand 
What  you  are,  root  and  all,  and  all  in  all, 

I  should  know  what  God  and  man  is." 

And  therefore  it  is  that  I  repeat:  The 
first  problem  that  faces  the  thinking  mind 
is  the  problem  of  Self.  Who  am  I? 
What  am  I  ?  Whence  came  I  ?  Whither 
go  I  ?  What  mean  these  strange  con- 
flicting elements  within  my  nature? 
How  is  it  that  one  day  I  love,  and  within 
an  hour  I  hate.?*  What  is  the  meaning 
of  all  these   strange  contradictory  ex- 


Self  11 

periences    as    I  take  my  way  through 
life? 

Our  present  consideration  is  confined 
within  very  narrow  limits.  We  shall 
endeavor  to  answer  the  psalmist's  ques- 
tion, "What  is  man?"  in  the  light  of 
the  New  Testament  revelation.  "What 
is  man?" — not,  What  is  man,  blighted, 
dwarfed,  broken,  sin-stained,  as  we 
know  him  ?  That  will  be  a  subject  for 
future  consideration;  but  what  is  man 
in  himself — what  is  the  Divine  ideal  ? 
When,  far  away  in  the  past,  God  said, 
in  that  Eternal  Counsel  of  His  own  being, 
"Let  us  make  man,"  what  had  He  in 
His  thought  and  on  His  heart?  "What 
is  man  ? "  In  order  that  we  may  under- 
stand the  problem  as  it  presents  itself  to- 
day, it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  we 
get  further  back  in  the  question,  and  ask 
the  original  intention  and  meaning  of 
the  creation  of  man.  I  cannot  under- 
stand fallen  man,  sinful  and  heart- 
broken, save  as  I  have  the  vision  of  man 
unfallen,  without  sin,  whole  in  heart 
and  affection  toward  God.     "What  is 


12  Life  Problems 

man  ? "  For  the  sake  of  the  youngest 
reader,  let  me  take  the  simplest  illustra- 
tion. Were  I  a  stranger  to  this  land, 
and  were  I  suddenly  brought  here  from 
some  of  the  dark  places  of  the  earth,  did 
I  know  nothing  of  civilization,  naught 
of  all  the  progress  of  this  rapidly  fading 
century,  and  were  I  placed  first  of  all  in 
connection  with  our  great  railway  system 
on  some  point  where  an  hour  before 
there  had  been  a  fearful  wreck,  would  it 
be  fair  to  say  to  me  as  I  gazed  upon  the 
wreck  of  the  locomotive  and  train  scat- 
tered in  confusion,  ''That  is  a  train"? 
Every  child  will  see  how  absurd  it  would 
be.  That  is  the  wreckage,  the  result  of 
the  accident,  and  it  is  the  very  splendor 
of  the  construction  that  has  made  that 
wreckage  so  profound  and  appalling.  If 
I  want  to  know  what  a  train  is,  I  must 
find  out  before  the  accident.  "  What  is 
man  ?"  It  is  not  fair  to  point  to  man  as 
you  see  him  to-day,  with  the  blemish 
and  blight  of  sin  upon  him;  with  the 
dimness  of  sin  in  his  eye,  and  the  weari- 
ness of  sin  in  his  physical  frame;  with 


Self  13 

his  mental  vigor  enfeebled,  and  spiritual 
power  benumbed. 

"What  is  man?"  That  is  the  ques- 
tion; and  in  order  to  answer  it,  1  must 
get  behind  the  present  condition  of  af- 
fairs, and  come  to  understand  what  man 
is  in  himself,  so  far  as  the  thought  and 
intention  of  God  are  concerned.  We 
shall  therefore,  in  the  first  place,  consider 
the  problem  as  stated ;  and  secondly,  we 
shall  direct  our  attention  to  a  close  in- 
spection of  that  problem ;  and  thirdly  and 
lastly,  we  shall  endeavor  to  apply  that 
problem  to  personal  consciousness. 

I 

First  of  all,  will  you  notice  the  psalm- 
ist's statement  of  the  problem,  because  it 
is  full  of  interest.  He  approaches  his 
question  from  certain  points  of  observa- 
tion, and  it  is  only  as  we  understand 
these  points  that  we  shall  gather  the  full 
force  and  meaning  of  his  question. 

You  notice  what  his  first  observation 
is.  "  When  I  consider  Thy  heavens,  the 
work  of  Thy  fingers,  the  moon  and  the 


14  Life  Problems 

stars  which  Thou  has  ordained:  What  is 
man?"  The  second  observation,  "Thou 
art  mindful  of  man,  Thou  visitest  him." 
"What  is  man?"  Take  these  two 
points  of  vision  for  a  moment  and  look 
at  them  closely.  "  When  I  consider  Thy 
heavens" — and  I  suppose  the  psalmist 
had  a  right  to  say  that.  I  suppose  he 
had  considered  God's  heavens.  I  do  not 
deem  that  very  many  of  us  would  have 
any  right  to  make  use  of  those  words  as 
our  own.  There  may  be  here  one,  and 
there  another,  who  have  considered  the 
heavens.  We  have  all,  in  some  of  those 
old  moments  of  simplicity — childhood's 
moments — gone  outside  the  door  and 
gazed  some  night  at  the  star-bespangled 
heavens.  And  we  have  in  those  days — 
some  of  you  have  almost  forgotten  them 
— felt  the  thrill,  the  awe,  and  the  impress- 
iveness  of  the  silent  eloquence  of  the 
night.  "  When  1  consider  Thy  heavens  " 
in  their  countless  numbers,  in  their  per- 
fect order,  in  their  absolute  freedom — so 
far  as  man  has  ever  been  able  to  detect — 
from  conflicting  interests,  in  the  infinite 


Self  15 

music  of  the  spheres  that  stretch  beyond 
my  ken;  "When  I  consider  Thy  heav- 
ens," not  only  in  their  essential  wonder, 
but  "When  I  consider  Thy  heavens,  the 
work  of  Thy  fingers,  the  moon  and  the 
stars  which  Thou  hast  ordained:  what  is 
man?" 

And  the  answer  comes  clearly  to  every 
heart  as  the  question  is  proposed.  Man 
is  small,  frail,  vanishing;  and  we  answer 
the  psalmist's  question  in  his  own  lan- 
guage, from  another  of  his  psalms, 
"Surely  man  at  his  best  estate  is  alto- 
gether vanity." 

Man  comes  and  goes,  a  bubble  on  the 
stream,  on  which  for  a  few  passing  mo- 
ments the  lights  and  shadows  play;  and 
then  he  is  "  forgotten,  as  a  dream  dies  at 
the  opening  day."  The  stars  upon  which 
we  look  to-day  are  the  self-same  orbs  of 
light  upon  which  our  savage  forefathers 
gazed.  But  men  have  come  and  gone  in 
quick  succession,  until  it  seems  as  if  the 
cold  stars  upon  the  plain  of  heaven  have 
laughed  at  man  in  his  going  and  coming. 
I  stand  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  which 


16  Life  Problems 

lifts  its  head  beyond  the  cloud,  and  catches 
on  its  summit  the  first  gleam  of  the  king 
of  day  in  his  rising,  and  I  say,  "What 
am  I?"  That  mountain  has  been  there 
through  the  passing  of  the  ages,  and  I 
am  here  and  shall  be  gone  before  the 
sun  melts  the  snow  upon  its  summit. 
"What  is  man  ?" 

But  the  psalmist  has  another  point  of 
observation.  "Thou  art  mindful  of  him; 
Thou  visitest  him."  If  the  heavens  are 
wonderful,  they  are  the  "work  of  Thy 
fingers."  The  extremities  of  Divine 
power  have  done  these  things,  but  Thou 
Thyself  art  mindful  of  man.  Thou  hast 
manipulated  the  orbs  of  night,  and  the 
procession  of  the  centuries  without  ef- 
fort, without  weariness,  without  jour- 
neying; but  Thou  visitest ///>//.  "What 
is  man  ?  "  Frail,  insignificant,  vanishing, 
laughed  at  by  material  grandeur,  and  yet 
attracting  God,  so  that  the  Eternal  is 
"mindful  of  him  and  visits  him." 

Thus  the  problem  is  stated;  and  I  want 
you  to  see  very  clearly  how  close  is  the 
connection  between  these  two  points  of 


Self  ir 

observation,  and  how,  moreover,  had 
there  not  been  two  points  of  observa- 
tion, the  wonder  never  would  have  been. 
If  man  were  obviously  greater  than  the 
universe,  surely,  then,  he  is  equal  with 
God;  and  I  am  not  surprised  God  is 
"mindful  of  him  and  visits  him."  On 
the  other  hand,  if  God  does  not  visit  this 
man,  then  I  ask  no  question  about  him. 
He  is  part  of  the  perishing  around  me. 
He  lives  his  little  life,  and  has  his  day, 
and  is  lost,  so  far  as  identity  and  per- 
sonality are  concerned.  He  returns  to 
Mother  Earth,  and  mixes  again  with  the 
first  elements  that  have  composed  him 
for  a  few 'passing  years,  and  we  shall 
never  know  him  again.  If  that  be  so  I 
ask  no  question.  He  is  the  fairest  flower 
that  has  blossomed  on  the  earth;  the 
most  blessed  form  of  materialism  that 
any  have  ever  seen,  and  that  is  all:  but 
when  I  see  him  frailer  than  matter, 
weaker  than  the  mountains,  smaller  than 
the  stars,  vanishing  in  the  presence  of  the 
fastnesses  of  nature,  and  yet  God  visits 
him,  and  is  mindful  of  him  (and  to  min- 


18  Life  Problems 

gle  the  sweet  music  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  God  puts  his  tears  into  His 
bottle,  numbers  the  hairs  of  his  head, 
directs  his  steps),  then  have  I  to  won- 
der, and  am  constrained  to  ask  with  the 
psalmist  of  old,  "  What  is  man  ?  " 

This  statement  of  the  problem  is  neces- 
sary in  order  to  arrest  the  careless  and 
indifferent  who  are  taking  their  own  life 
and  being  for  granted,  as  something 
purely  accidental.  Let  us  face  this  two- 
fold vision  and  its  problem — less  than 
stars  and  systems,  and  suns,  and  order, 
and  yet  such  that  attracts  God,  so  that 
He  is  mindful  of  and  visits  him.  "  What 
is  man?" 

II 

Now  I  propose  finding  my  definition 
in  the  New  Testament,  and  I  shall  only 
trouble  you  to  look  at  it  in  order  to  re- 
member the  phrase.  In  Paul's  first  letter 
to  the  Thessalonians,  in  the  last  chapter 
and  the  23d  verse,  he  makes  use  of  a 
phrase  of  infinite  meaning,  as  I  believe, 
giving  us  in  his  own  clear,  lucid  way  a 


Self  19 

definition  which  answers  the  question 
propounded  in  this  psalm  of  olden  times 
— "The  God  of  peace  sanctify  you 
wholly  "  ;  and  then  he  proceeds  to  give 
us  an  exposition  of  his  own  phrase 
"wholly."  What  does  he  mean  when 
he  says  that  sanctification  has  to  be 
wholly  complete?  "May  your  spirit, 
soul,  and  body  be  preserved  entire,  with- 
out blame,  unto  the  coming  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ."  I  am  not  discussing  this 
text;  I  am  simply  lifting  out  of  it— in 
order  that  we  may  study  the  problem 
that  faces  us — that  one  phrase,  "your 
spirit,  soul,  and  body."  And  upon  this 
occasion  the  original  words  are  used 
most  carefully;  and  that  is  why  I  take 
this  phrase  and  ask  you  to  look  at  it 
for  a  moment  or  two.  Spirit,  soul,  and 
body.  That  is  man.  Shall  we  take  each 
of  these  and  consider  them  briefly,  only 
for  the  purpose  of  our  argument;  and 
that  we  may  follow  the  line  of  thought 
we  shall  not  take  them  in  the  apostle's 
order,  but  we  shall,  reversing  the  order, 
take  first  body,  then  soul,  and  then  spirit. 


20  Life  Problems 

Body.  "What  is  man?"  We  have 
too  long  answered  the  question  care- 
lessly, and  have  said  body  and  soul,  and 
too  long  been  misusing  a  word  by  talk- 
ing about  saving  the  soul.  Now  what  a 
man  needs  to  have  saved  in  that  evan- 
gelical sense  of  the  word,  is  not  the  soul, 
but  the  spirit.  Let  the  spirit  be  regener- 
ated, and  then  soul  and  body  alike  are 
saved;  but  it  is  important  that  we  should 
look  at  this  vision  and  consider  these 
words — body,  soul,  and  spirit.  The  body 
is  of  the  earth,  and  therefore  earthy,  and 
yet  it  is  the  highest  form  of  earth-life. 
Let  us  be  very  simple  and  childlike  as 
we  think  about  that  lowest  form  of 
human  personality — physical  power.  It 
was  the  psalmist  who  said  we  are  ''fear- 
fully and  wonderfully  made,"  and  yet 
how  few  of  us  realize  that  that  is  true; 
how  few  have  set  themselves,  quietly 
and  thoughtfully,  to  think  of  the  mar- 
vellous and  matchless  mechanism  of 
their  own  frames!  This  is  the  day  of 
invention  and  of  progress,  when  man  is 
engaged  in  a  continuous  whirl  of  dis- 


Self  21 

covery;  and  according  to  the  very  latest 
book  by  Mr.  Bellamy,  ''Equality,"  the 
time  is  coming  when  we  shall  not  work, 
but  press  a  button  and  everything  will 
be  done  for  us.  May  I  be  dead  before 
the  day  comes!  That  is  all  I  wish.  But 
we  are  discovering  everywhere,  and  men 
are  perpetually  inventing  new  forms  of 
machinery.  But  the  mechanism  of  my 
hand  has  never  been  equalized  in  the 
dream  of  any  inventor;  and  what  is  true 
of  me  is  true  of  every  one.  Take  the 
hand,  and  you  will  find  that  the  thumb 
faces  every  finger  so  that  I  can  pick  from 
the  ground  the  smallest  thing  that  my 
hand  can  lift,  and  also  grasp  the  lever 
that  moves  great  masses  of  matter. 

You  remember  when  you  had  those 
first  visions  of  physiology  that  so  en- 
tranced some  of  you  that  you  never  left 
the  study,  and  finally  mastered  it,  and 
entered  upon  a  profession  that  has  served 
humanity  and  is  always  an  adornment. 
Some  saw  the  vision  and  were  afraid, 
and  drew  back.  Think  of  it  for  a  mo- 
ment, the  body  of  man,  and  remember 


^2  Life  Problems 

there  is  no  flower  that  blossoms  upon 
the  sod  so  fair;  no  tree  that  grows  in 
the  wood  so  wondrous  in  its  powers  of 
endurance.  "Oh,"  but  you  say,  "there 
are  trees  growing  to-day  that  were  old 
when  we  began  to  be";  but  they  have 
never  faced  such  storms  as  you  have. 
All  the  wind  that  blows,  the  rain  that 
splashes,  and  the  changes  of  atmosphere 
that  tell  upon  the  oak,  are  child's  play 
compared  to  the  mental  anguish  and 
heart-break  that  have  swept  across  your 
life;  and  yet  you  have  endured.  With 
God  a  thousand  years  are  as  a  day;  and 
with  man,  as  compared  to  the  oak,  a 
thousand  years  are  as  a  day.  One  day 
has  in  it  of  force  and  meaning  more 
than  all  the  life  the  plant  or  the  tree  lives 
in  its  long  succession  of  the  seasons.  So 
if  you  think  of  the  material  side  of  man's 
existence,  he  is  mgre  wonderful  in  his 
strength,  as  in  his  beauty,  than  anything 
else  God  has  made.  And  yet  what  is 
this  frame  of  mine  ?  It  is  the  carbon 
upon  which  the  light  of  God  is  to  play 
and  have  its  work.     As  is  the  carbon  to 


Self  23 

the  electric  light,  so  is  the  body  of  man 
to  the  spirit  of  man.  Only  that,  nothing 
more!  It  is  the  basis  of  life,  that  upon 
which  the  rest  manifests  itself  for  the 
time  being,  and  only  for  the  time  being. 
This  body  of  mine,  surpassing  in  its 
wonder  all  human  understanding,  is  for 
to-day,  not  to-morrow.  In  God's  great 
to-morrow,  I  must  have  a  body  of  an- 
other form — no  longer  the  earthly  and 
material,  but  the  heavenly  and  the  spirit- 
ual. This  is  the  tabernacle  for  the  spirit 
in  the  day  of  its  probation.  More  mar- 
vellous in  its  mechanism,  as  we  have 
said,  than  sun,  stars,  tree,  or  plant,  or 
any  other  form  of  matter;  and  yet  being 
but  the  lowest  stratum  in  the  complex 
life  of  man. 

Soul. — This  word  "soul" — the  Greek 
word — is  a  word  that  always  refers  to 
the  animal  life  of  man,  the  conscious 
force,  that  within  which  feels  pain  or  joy. 
You  will  agree  that  the  animal  life  in 
man  far  exceeds,  in  every  way,  all  other 
forms  of  animal  life.  Remember  that 
man,  as  an  animal,  without  any  reference 


24  Life  Problems 

to  the  great  crowning  glory,  is  capable  of 
art,  and  music,  and  literature,  and  imag- 
ination. All  these  things  may  flourish 
even  though  a  man  be  spiritually  dead. 
I  want  to  save  that  phrase  now,  because 
it  is  on  your  mind.  I  may  forget  to  cor- 
rect it.  Some  one  says,  *'  Do  you  mean 
to  say  that  these  may  all  find  full  play  in 
an  unspiritual  man  ?  "  By  no  means.  I 
say  the  best  art  the  world  has  ever  known 
has  been  inspired,  and  under  the  do- 
minion of  spirit.  The  finest  poetry  that 
men  have  ever  penned  has  been  written 
when  the  life  was  under  the  dominion  of 
the  highest  form  of  its  complex  nature — 
spirit.  But  this  I  do  say,  within  the 
mental  range  of  the  soul  life  there  may 
be  art,  music,  literature,  and  imagination, 
all  the  while  the  spirit  of  man  is  dead  in 
trespasses  and  sins.  This  is  no  new 
story  or  theory.  If  you  trace  your  way 
back  to  Genesis  you  will  find  how  Enoch 
was  the  seventh  from  Adam  through 
Seth;  and  of  Enoch  it  was  said,  "he 
walked  with  God."  Lamech  lived  about 
the  same  time,  he  being  the  seventh  from 


Self  25 

Adam  through  Cain;  and  you  study 
his  times  and  find  how  there  was  in- 
dustry, and  art,  and  the  enfranchisement 
of  woman — all  without  God.  And  that 
old  story  has  been  repeated  ever  since. 
A  man  can  be  an  artist,  a  poet,  a  literary 
genius,  a  messenger  to  his  fellow-men 
on  high  moral  lines,  even  though  the 
spirit  is  dead.  But,  so  far,  we  have  only 
touched  upon  the  body  and  soul.  What 
next  ? 

Spirit. — That  which  is  divine;  the  free 
breath  of  God.  Divine  in  its  possibili- 
ties and  powers,  the  supreme  glory  of 
every  human  life,  unheard  of  by  any  form 
of  lower  life  than  man — the  spirit.  If  I 
meet  a  man  in  the  road,  I  meet  first  of 
all  his  bodily  presence.  That  appeals  to 
me  through  the  avenue  of  my  sight.  But 
when  presently  we  pause  and  hold  con- 
verse, I  reach  his  soul — the  mental  side 
of  the  man — through  the  avenue  of  his 
speech;  but  when  I  have  lived  with  him 
and  tabernacled  with  him,  I  shall  reach, 
if  it  be  alive  and  prospering  there,  his 
spirit,  not  through  the  avenue  of  sight  or 


26  Life  Problems 

speech,  but  through  the  avenue  of  the  in- 
fluence he  will  exert  upon  me.  Thus  the 
easiest  thing  which  I  can  come  in  contact 
with  is  his  body,  the  physical  side  of  his 
nature,  fearful,  wonderful,  majestic. 
More  difficult  to  realize  is  brotherhood 
in  the  region  of  the  mind;  but  most 
subtle  and  hard  to  reach  is  the  kindred 
touch  of  spirit  that  is  the  crowning  glory 
of  every  human  being.  What  is  man  } 
Less  than  the  heavens,  and  yet  so  won- 
drous in  himself  that  God  is  mindful  of 
him  and  visits  him.  Man  is  body — of 
the  earth ;  he  is  soul — the  highest  form 
of  animal  life;  he  is  spirit— offspring  of 
God,  created  not  only  by  Him,  but  in  His 
image. 

"  What  is  man  ?  "  He  is  the  union  of 
the  spiritual  and  the  material.  He  is  the 
crown  of  all  nature,  and  in  man  nature 
blossoms  into  God.  You  may  have  your 
evolutionary  theory  at  this  point,  if  you 
like;  you  may  take  your  lowest  form  of 
life  back  to  what  scientists  speak  of  as 
protoplasm.  Ruskin  said  it  would  spoil 
a  good  deal  of  the  scientific  aspect  of 


Self  27 

things  if  the  words  of  the  teachers  were 
explained.  Protoplasm  means,  "first 
stuck  together."  It  may  be  well  to  re- 
member that.  Go  back  to  them,  because 
1  should  like  to  know  what  was  stuck 
together,  and  who  stuck  them.  But  get 
back  to  your  **  first  stuck  together,"  and 
watch  it  upward,  if  you  like.  I  am  not 
going  to  quarrel  with  it.  I  don't  know 
enough  to  say  whether  it  is  true;  but 
whether  it  is  true  or  not,  one  thing  is 
certain,  that  behind  all  is  God.  Let  me 
travel  up  through  every  point  of  beauty, 
growing  grander  and  grander  until  it  is 
lost  in  man,  and  in  man  all  nature  touches 
God.  For  in  man  there  is  the  Divine 
spark,  the  Divine  nature;  and  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  is  a  part  of  God,  cre- 
ated in  His  image,  and  touched  with  His 
life  and  spirit.  Nature  touches  God  no- 
where but  in  man,  in  that  sense  there  is 
nothing  of  the  Divine  on  the  earth  save 
man;  and  in  the  heaven  that  lies  above 
us  and  the  light  that  is  beyond  the 
shadow,  there  is  nothing,  so  far  as  we 
know,  of  earth  but  man.     So  man  be- 


28  Life  Problems 

comes  the  strangest  and  grandest  of  the 
works  of  God,  in  his  own  being  marrying 
earth  and  heaven,  linking  matter  to 
spirit,  and  being  in  himself  at  once  of 
the  earth  and  of  the  heavens — the  strang- 
est and  most  marvellous  combination  of 
the  skill  and  work  of  the  Divine. 

If  man  sin,  then  all  nature  will  go 
down  with  him,  trees,  and  flowers — on 
all  will  be  the  chill  of  man's  sin.  Well 
does  the  writer  of  the  New  Testament 
say  that  '*the  whole  creation  groaneth 
and  travaileth  together  in  pain  until 
now."  Then,  when  spirit  is  dominant 
in  man,  he  is  at  his  best.  Spirit  is  su- 
preme; and  soul  and  body  are  subser- 
vient to  spirit.  And  when  spirit  is  su- 
preme, man  has  dominion,  as  the  psalm- 
ist says,  and  the  writer  of  the  Hebrews 
repeats  ''over  all  things." 

Then  if  man  be  spirit  in  his  complex 
and  essential  being,  he  is  immortal,  and 
there  is  no  death.  **  Oh,"  you  say,  **  but 
there  is  death.  Men  have  died  through 
all  the  ages."  My  friends,  that  is  not  a 
part  of  our  study.     ''What  is  man  ?  "     i 


Self  29 

do  not  ask  what  he  is  in  his  fall.  Re- 
member, '*the  wages  of  sin  is  death." 
Death  came  in  because  of  sin  in  man 
himself;  in  the  essential  glory  of  the  Di- 
vine creation  there  is  no  death,  transition 
rather.  This  life  is  a  probation,  a  time 
of  testing  and  trial,  in  which  all  the  mag- 
nificence of  his  own  being  comes  before 
his  own  vision.  Then,  when  the  testing 
time  is  over,  and  the  work  is  done, 
comes  the  change — the  transition,  that 
leaves  behind  the  process  of  probation, 
and  takes  up  new  work  in  the  Kingdom 
of  the  Eternal,  fulfilling  the  purpose  of 
God,  and  stepping  out  to  unknown  re- 
gions of  which  man  in  all  his  dreams  can 
say  nothing,  for  God  has  hidden  these 
things.  "What  is  man?"  Body,  soul, 
and  spirit. 

Ill 

What  is  my  personal  consciousness,  in 
view  of  such  a  study  ?  I  am  not  what  I 
have  described. 

That  is  not  the  story  of  my  life.  Well, 
that  is  precisely  what  the  writer  of  the 


30  •     Life  Problems 

letter  to  the  Hebrews  teaches.  He  quotes 
the  psalm  from  which  our  text  is  taken. 
"What  is  man  that  Thou  art  mindful  of 
him,  and  visitest  him  ?"  and  then  he  de- 
clares, "We  see  not  yet  all  things  put 
under  his  feet."  I  pray  you  notice  that 
it  does  not  in  the  first  place  mean  the 
feet  of  Jesus;  the  writer  is  speaking  of 
man — "Now  we  see  not  all  things  sub- 
jected to  him  " — all  things  are  not  yet 
subjected  to  man — "but  we  see  Jesus, 
Who  was  made  a  little  lower  than  the 
angels  for  the  suffering  of  death, 
crowned."  Oh,  if  I  could  put  into  that 
all  the  music  it  contains!  We  have 
looked  at  the  vision,  and  we  are  not  that 
which  has  been  described.  But  we  see 
"Jesus,  Who  has  been  made  a  little 
lower  than  the  angels,"  come  to  our 
level — and  how  do  we  see  Him  ? 
Crowned.  Then  there  is  one  Man  to 
whom  all  things  have  been  put  in  sub- 
jection; one  Man  Who  has  fulfilled  His 
Divine  ideal;  one  Man  in  the  presence  of 
the  Eternal  God  Who  is  there,  not  by  the 
ri^ht  of  pardon  purchased  for  Him,  but 


Self  31 

by  the  right  of  His  own  strong,  pure 
life. 

We  do  not  see  all  things  put  in  subjec- 
tion to  man;  but  we  see  Jesus  crowned. 
And  why  is  He  crowned  ?  Will  you  hear 
those  closing  words  of  that  same  most 
wonderful  chapter,  8th  verse,  '*Thou 
hast  put  all  things  in  subjection  under 
His  feet; "  and  then  on  to  the  i8th  verse, 
"  For  in  that  He  Himself  hath  suffered, 
being  tempted,  He  is  able  to  succor 
them  that  are  tempted."  He  is  crowned. 
And  because  He  is  crowned  He  is  able  to 
bring  the  power  of  His  own  resurrection 
life  into  my  life.  He  is  able  to  take  me, 
wreck  as  I  am,  ruined  as  1  am,  failure  as 
I  am,  and  by  discipline  remould  and  re- 
make me  out  of  the  wreckage  of  my  sin. 
"He  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost 
those  who  come  unto  God  by  Him." 
My  possibility:  Man — body,  soul,  and 
spirit.  My  failure:  I  have  sinned.  My 
possession  in  Christ:  He  is  able  to  suc- 
cor. 

Now  I  would  like  to  say  solemnly,  in 
conclusion,  and  leave  the  question  in  all 


32  Life  Problems 

its  simplicity — On  which  plane  of  life  are 
you  living — body,  soul,  or  spirit  ?  The 
great  crowd  of  men  to-day  are  living  on 
the  lowest;  but  a  large  number  are  liv- 
ing on  the  second — soul,  mental  culture 
— and  thank  God,  there  are  those  who 
are  living  on  the  third — spirit.  That  is 
the  supreme  thing.  Where  dost  thou  live, 
my  brother  ?  For  bodily  satisfaction,  or 
mental  culture,  or  spiritual  growth  ?  For 
only  as  thou  livest  on  the  third  and 
greatest,  can  the  others  be  all  that  they 
may  be,  and  all  that  is  God's  will  that 
they  should  be.  If  hitherto  thou  hast 
lived  in  the  realm  of  the  physical,  the 
fleshly,  the  carnal,  the  material,  I  call  you 
in  the  name  of  the  ''crowned  Man" 
Who  is  able  to  "succor  you  who  are 
tempted"  to  His  Cross,  and  to  His  side, 
and  to  His  Kingdom. 


II 

ENVIRONMENT 


**  For  in  Him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being." 

A.CTS  xvii.  28. 


II 

ENVIRONMENT 

We  have  considered  the  problem  of 
Self.  We  now  turn  to  the  consideration 
of  the  forces  which  affect  a  man  from 
without — his  environment.  We  shall 
deal  with  Environment,  firstly,  as  a 
popular  conception;  secondly,  as  a  Di- 
vine revelation;  and  then  we  shall  dis- 
cuss the  relation  of  these  two  views. 

I 

Primarily,  let  us  take  the  popular  idea 
— an  idea  based  upon  facts  which  are 
patent  to  all  observers,  and  evident  to 
every  one  of  us,  not  merely  from  our 
observation  of  the  lives  of  others,  but 
from  our  own  experience. 

Man  is  acted  upon  and  changed  by  the 

everyday  surroundings  of  his  life.     This 

is  seen  in  a  striking  way  in  the  effect 

produced  upon  a  man  by  the  company 

35 


36  Life  Problems 

with  which  he  associates.  If  that  com- 
pany is  refined  and  cultured,  he  will,  al- 
most in  spite  of  himself,  become  in  some 
measure  refined.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
a  man,  born  in  refined  life,  choose  to 
make  companions  of  the  debased,  sor- 
did, and  brutal,  he  will  undoubtedly 
weave  into  his  own  character  those  ele- 
ments of  baseness,  sordidness,  and  bru- 
tality. Every  man  is  made,  in  some 
measure,  by  the  company  he  keeps. 

Again,  a  man's  character  is  moulded, 
imperceptibly  to  himself  it  may  be,  but 
most  surely,  by  his  daily  occupation. 
There  are  some  people  more  clever  than 
others,  who  profess  to  be  able  to  tell 
you  to  what  profession  a  man  belongs 
as  they  look  at  him  in  the  street.  There 
certainly  are  men  who  carry  the  profes- 
sion they  follow  stamped  on  their  face 
and  marked  in  their  bearing.  I  am  not, 
however,  speaking  so  much  of  what  can 
be  seen  on  the  surface,  as  of  the  deep 
inner  reality  of  the  case;  and  I  say  that  a 
man  is  very  largely  moulded  in  character 
by  his  occupation.     Is  was  my  lot,  some 


Environment  37 

years  ago,  to  conduct  a  Mission  at  Crewe, 
where  those  magnificent  locomotives  of 
the  North-Western  Railway  Company  are 
built;  and  there  for  fourteen  days  I  came 
into  contact,  for  the  most  part,  with  men 
who  worked  in  those  shops.  It  was  a 
remarkable  fact  that  these  men  were  not 
prepared  to  take  for  granted  any  single 
thing  I  said.  Neither  were  they  prepared 
to  accept  an  ideal  of  life  simply  because 
it  was  the  ideal  of  another  man.  With 
hard-headed  shrewdness  they  followed 
me  as  I  dealt  with  them;  and  not  until 
they  were  clearly  convinced  of  the  rea- 
sonableness of  the  plan  of  salvation,  and 
of  its  actual  suitability  to  their  known 
needs,  were  they  prepared  to  make  any 
confession  of  faith.  These  men  spent 
six  days  of  the  week  in  doing  work  that 
could  not  be  loosely  performed.  Every 
small  piece  of  the  machinery  of  those 
majestic  engines  had  perfectly  to  com- 
plement and  fit  its  neighbor.  There  was 
exactitude  in  these  men's  lives  for  six 
days,  and  when  they  began  to  touch 
spiritual  verities  they  brought  to  their 


88  Life  Problems 

study  the  same  precision  of  observation 
that  they  applied  to  the  work  that  their 
hands  undertook.  They  were  moulded 
mentally  by  their  occupation. 

In  1896  I  stood  in  one  of  the  great 
slaughter-yards  of  Chicago;  and  as  I 
looked  at  things  which  I  do  not  pro- 
pose to  describe  to  you,  I  felt  that  no 
man  could  work  perpetually  in  this  at- 
mosphere without  being  brutalized;  and 
I  was  told  afterward  that  there  were  jus- 
tices in  that  neighborhood  who  had  de- 
clined to  take  the  evidence  of  some  of 
these  men  when  they  knew  their  em- 
ployment. A  man  is  moulded  and  made 
V  by  his  occupation. 

You  will  agree  with  me  that  a  man's 

/  character  is  moulded  and  fashioned  by 

f    his  reading.-   Men  and  women  make  or 

^-  mar  their  lives  by  the  books  they  read 

in  their  spare  time.     Literature  that  is 

frothy,    sensational,    light,    will    create 

character    that    is    frothy,    sensational, 

light.     On  the   other  hand,  a  book  of 

^    solid  thought  and  set  purpose — a  book 

that  cannot  be  taken  up  flippantly  for 


Environment  39 

five  minutes  now  and  then,  but  arrests 
the  kingly  quality  of  mental  power,  and 
demands  undivided  attention — will  pro- 
duce character  that  is  strong,  true,  and 
abiding. 

It  is  indisputable  also  that  a  man  is 
made  or  marred  by  the  place  of  his 
abode.  The  man  who  lives  in  the  tene- 
ment-house or  the  slum  is  of  necessity 
a  widely  different  character  from  the 
man  who  is  born  in  the  cottage  on  the 
hillside,  amid  the  clustering  roses  and 
trailing  honeysuckle,  and  the  sweet- 
ness of  the  garden  with  all  fragrant 
herbs. 

Thus  all  through  life  man  is  being  in^ 
fluenced  by  his  surroundings. 

Out  of  these  facts  certain  teachers  have 
been  deducing  a  philosophy  of  life  which, 
at  the  first  blush,  seems  to  be  plausible, 
possible,  and  even  probable.  That  philos- 
ophy may  thus  be  stated : — If  a  man  is  in- 
fluenced by  his  surroundings,  all  you  have 
to  do  to  effect  the  transformation  of  the 
man  is  to  re-make  them.  Remove  the 
man  out  of  a  slum  to  a  model  dwelling  in 


4:0  Life  Prryolems 

the  country  or  the  suburbs;  take  him  out 
of  his  workshop — which  is  a  veritable 
death-trap  on  account  of  its  unhealthy 
conditions — and  put  him  into  one  that  is 
well  ventilated  with  all  modern  appli- 
ances, and  the  atmosphere  of  which  is 
pure  and  sweet;  take  him  away  from 
the  neighborhood  where  crime  is  ram- 
pant, and  plant  him  among  the  green 
fields;  hang  a  few  pictures  on  the  walls 
of  his  house;  supply  him  with  a  bath; 
and  you  will  re-make  the  man.  That  is 
the  popular  doctrine  of  environment. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  doctrine  of 
environment  was  smashed  to  pieces  in 
the  Garden  of  Eden ;  and  it  is  perfectly 
true.  God  did  not  start  man  in  a  fac- 
tory, or  a  tenement-house,  or  a  slum;  He 
started  him  in  a  garden  where  there  was 
the  most  perfect  environment  for  all  his 
complex  nature;  for  physical  life  is  ever 
at  its  best  in  the  country,  though  we  say 
it  who  live  amid  the  grime  and  toil  of 
the  city.  Surely  mental  vigor  has  ever 
been  most  perfectly  developed  when  it 
has  escaped  from  the  restless  crowd  to 


Environment  41 

the  loneliness  of  mountains  and  forests, 
and  has  dwelt  ''near  to  Nature's  heart." 
I  think  it  is  much  easier  to  pray  under 
the  blue,  and  the  trees  on  the  green- 
sward, than  where  the  houses  congregate 
so  thickly  that  your  vision  of  Nature  is 
limited;  and  you  forget  the  blue,  and 
the  tree,  and  the  green.  In  this  perfect 
environment  of  the  garden  God  put  man, 
without  hereditary  taint;  and  yet  he 
failed. 

We  need  not  go  so  far  back  as  the  Gar- 
den of  Eden,  but  come  to  later  times; 
and,  out  of  Bible  history,  take  one  man 
who  started  his  life  with  environment 
more  complete  than  that  of  any  other 
man;  who  had  his  kingdom  prepared 
for  him  by  the  heroic  warrior-spirit  of 
his  father,  and  who  entered,  not  only 
upon  the  kingdom  so  prepared,  but  upon 
the  heritage  of  his  father's  penitence  and 
tears;  a  man  who  came  to  the  building 
of  the  House  of  God,  prompted  by  High 
Heaven,  and  took  up  a  work  which  his 
father  had  not  been  allowed  to  touch  on 
account  of  the  failure  in  his  life.     What 


4:2  Life  Problems 

splendid  opportunities  for  the  develop- 
ment of  an  unique  personality;  and  yet  I 
have  no  hesitation  in  asserting  that  of  all 
the  miserable  failures  recorded  in  the 
Book  of  Truth,  no  failure  was  ever  more 
miserable  or  complete  than  that  of  Solo- 
mon. Perfect  environment  was  not  suffi- 
cient. 

When,  in  this  country,  our  politicians 
and  thinkers  were  facing  the  great  prob- 
lems of  educating  the  people,  it  was  the 
Iron  Duke,  a  man  of  stern  will,  the  hero 
of  many  a  hard-fought  battle,  and  yet  a 
man  of  keen  perception,  who  said, 
'*  Gentlemen,  if  you  are  only  going  to 
educate  the  children,  you  are  only  going 
to  make  them  clever  devils."  And  what 
he  said  was  true.  The  whole  history  of 
man  proves  that  environment  is  not  suffi- 
cient. If  you  take  a  man  from  the  slum 
and  put  him  in  the  suburb,  he  will,  un- 
less you  touch  him  in  the  very  centre  of 
his  being  with  some  marvellous  regenera- 
tive force,  by  his  very  presence  in  the 
suburb  degrade  it  to  the  level  of  the  slum. 
So  that  the  popular  doctrine  of  environ- 


Environment  43 

ment  is  one  which  experience  has  proved 
to  be  futile. 

II 

We  turn  to  our  second  consideration, 
that  of  Environment  as  a  Divine  revela- 
tion. We  have  it  in  our  text,  '*In  Him 
we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being." 
If  that  teach  us  anything,  it  teaches  us 
that  every  human  being  has  the  Uving 
God  as  true  environment.  Now  we  are 
face  to  face  with  something  that  is  so 
familiar,  that  it  has  lost  its  power  to 
touch  and  move  our  hearts.  No  one  will 
quarrel  with  that  statement;  and,  believe 
me,  the  most  difficult  task  is  to  get  peo- 
ple to  believe  the  things  they  think  they 
do  believe.  If  you  make  an  announce- 
ment that  will  challenge  men's  credulity, 
they  are  aroused  to  attention;  but  if  you 
tell  them  the  things  in  which  they  be- 
lieve, they  go  away  unbelieving,  simply 
because  of  their  familiarity. 

"In  Him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have 
our  being."  Then  our  first  environment 
is  God.     "In  Him  we  live."    What  is 


44  Life  Problems 

life  ?  None  can  tell.  Life  is  a  perpetual 
mystery  tliat  baffles  the  thinkers  and 
scientists  of  every  age.  Whether  you 
take  the  life  of  plant,  or  animal,  or  the 
higher  life  of  man,  you  are  still  in  the 
presence  of  mystery.  No  man  has  ever 
seen  life,  or  been  able  to  analyze  it.  A 
scientific  observer  sat  for  long  and  weary 
years  in  his  laboratory  in  Germany,  taking 
the  component  parts  of  man's  material  na- 
ture and  endeavoring  to  combine  these 
parts  so  as  to  produce  life;  but  he  failed. 
You  stand  by  the  bedside  of  a  dying 
man.  He  is  alive:  he  is  dead.  What 
has  happened  ?  None  can  solve  the  rid- 
dle. No  one  saw  pass  away  from  him 
the  principle  that  made  the  difference 
between  clay  and  humanity. 

While  our  text  does  not  give  us  final 
and  detailed  explanation  of  this  problem 
of  life,  it  declares  a  great  principle  con- 
cerning it.  "In  Him  we  live" — that 
which  is  life,  that  which  differentiates 
between  us  who  live,  and  the  dead 
bodies  that  wait  for  burial  in  our  city,  is 
that  which  is  in  God.    It  is  "  in  Him  we 


Environment  45 

live."  Then,  to  bring  that  great  essential 
truth  more  closely  to  our  notice,  the 
apostles  write,  "In  Him  we  live,  and 
move."  No  hand  is  uplifted  save  under 
Divine  energy;  no  step  is  taken  except 
in  the  power  of  God.  We  have  found 
our  way  from  various  homes  and  various 
circumstances  into  this  House  of  Prayer, 
and  the  energy  that  has  brought  us  here 
— very  little  as  it  seemed  in  its  distribu- 
tion among  the  units,  but  enormous  in 
its  mass — was  the  energy  of  God.  And 
then  again,  repeating  the  whole  fact,  he 
adds,  "and  have  our  being."  Then  the 
first  environment,  the  nearest  fact,  the 
supreme  truth  in  every  life  is  "GOD." 
All  other  environment  is  false  and  partial, 
and  therefore  does  not  touch  the  man 
himself. 

Falling  back  for  a  moment  upon  our 
first  study  in  this  series,  think  of  man  at 
his  best,  with  the  body  kept  under  in  its 
proper  place;  that  is  to  say,  physical 
and  mental  life-power  subservient  to  the 
spirit.  When  spirit  dominates,  what 
then  ?    Then  God  is  conscious  environ- 


46  Life  Problems 

ment,  and  everything  else  in  man  an- 
swers that  first  influence.  It  is  in  God 
that  man  lives,  and  moves,  and  has  his 
being;  and  so,  nearer  to  him  than  the 
book  he  reads,  than  the  house  in  which 
he  dwells,  than  the  occupation  of  all  the 
days,  than  the  companions  of  his  life — 
nearer  than  all  is  God.  It  is  in  ''Him 
man  lives,  and  moves,  and  has  his  being." 
As  we  have  combatted  the  false  de- 
duction that  is  made  from  the  ordinary 
statement  of  environment,  we  now  pro- 
ceed to  make  a  true  deduction  from  this 
Divine  relation.  The  man  who  con- 
sciously abides  in  God  is  superior  to 
every  other  environment,  master  of  every 
other  force  that  comes  against  his  life. 
The  man  in  the  slum,  what  shall  we  do 
with  him.?  Take  him  out  of  it?  No; 
we  will  lead  him  by  the  way  of  the 
Cross  into  living  communion  with  God. 
He  will  re-make  the  man,  and  within  a 
very  few  days  or  weeks  he  will  change 
his  own  environment  by  moving  from 
the  slum  somewhere  else.  The  man 
whose  work  and  reading  and  all  his  na- 


Environment  47 

ture  is  tending  to  degrade  and  debase 
him — what  shall  we  do  with  him  ?  Be- 
gin with  the  environment?  No;  begin 
with  the  man.  Restore  him  to  right  re- 
lationship with  the  Omnipotent,  the  Om- 
nipresent, and  the  Omniscient.  Let  him, 
not  merely  as  a  dead  theory,  but  as  a  liv- 
ing fact,  "live,  and  move,  and  have  his 
being  in  God,"  and  with  all-conquering 
might  he  will  put  the  foot  of  his  man- 
hood upon  the  neck  of  every  adversary 
from  without,  and  will  re-make  all  his 
environment  in  that  Divine  strength. 

The  law  of  environment  still  holds,  but 
there  is  a  higher  law  of  environment; 
and  when  man  obeys  the  higher  law,  all 
the  lower  laws  become  subservient,  and 
contribute,  not  to  his  disaster  and  defeat, 
but  to  his  making. 

May  we  reverently  take  as  our  supreme 
example  of  that  fact  the  one  perfect  Man, 
our  adorable  Redeemer,  and  compare 
Hiin  with  the  man  of  Old  Testament 
history  whom  we  have  mentioned.  One 
would  hardly  care  to  compare  Jesus  with 
Solomon,  were  it  not  that  Jesus  did  so 


48  Life  Problems 

Himself.  "A  greater  than  Solomon  is 
here."  Now  mark  the  difference  in  this 
particular  consideration.  Solomon  start- 
ed, as  we  have  said,  in  perfect  environ- 
ment, and  he  failed.  Think,  if  you  will, 
of  the  environment  of  the  life  of  Jesus 
Christ  from  the  standpoint  of  His  pecul- 
iar mission  to  the  world,  and  you  will 
see  that  from  first  to  last  everything, 
humanly  speaking,  was  against  Him.  A 
man  of  the  people,  born  a  peasant,  and 
all  through  life  suffering  poverty — and 
poverty  then,  as  now,  was  a  crime  in  the 
eye  of  the  crowd.  When  He  gathered 
His  own  disciples  round  Him  they  never 
understood  Him;  and  in  the  critical,  trag- 
ical moment  of  His  life,  they  all  forsook 
Him  and  fled. 

Solomon,  through  perfect  environment, 
comes  to  the  days  of  shadow;  and  listen, 
he  gives  you  the  story  of  his  failure: 
"Vanity  of  vanities,  all  is  vanity,  saith 
the  preacher."  Jesus  comes  to  the  close 
of  His  sojourn  on  the  earth,  and  what 
does  He  say?  **A11  authority  is  given 
unto  Me,  in  heaven  and  in  earth."     Con- 


Environment  49 

trast  the  two  statements:  "Vanity  of 
vanities."  "All  authority  given  to  Him." 
The  former  is  the  language  of  a  man 
who  through  his  own  sin  lost  the  sense 
of  his  true  environment,  and  so  became 
the  slave  of  all  the  varied  surroundings 
of  his  position.  The  latter  is  the  experi- 
ence of  the  perfect,  victorious  Man  who 
lived  in  the  true  environment.  He  con- 
sciously lived,  and  moved,  and  had  His 
being  in  God,  so  that  He  could  say,  "I 
am  alone,  yet  not  alone,  for  My  Father  is 
with  Me";  and  in  that  environment  He 
was  Master  of  every  other — He  put  His 
hand  upon  every  opposing  force,  and 
transmuted  it  by  the  power  and  magnifi- 
cence of  His  pure  manhood  into  an  oc- 
casion of  victory,  into  a  stepping-stone 
to  the  very  throne  of  the  universe.  We 
may  go  from  that  one  notable  illustration 
to  others  from  every  age  of  the  Christian 
Church.  Every  true  Christian  is  an  illus- 
tration of  this  same  great  fact  of  men 
and  women  moving  out  of  the  realm  of 
the  false  into  the  true,  and  becoming 
victors  over  the  very  forces  that  hitherto 


50  Life  Problems 

had  damaged  and  debased  them.  Out 
of  circumstances  that  thwarted  and  hin- 
dered, God  has  made  His  fairest  saints. 

Ill 

Now,  thirdly  and  lastly,  let  us  look  at 
the  inter-relation  of  these  questions.  En- 
vironment must  have  a  basis  on  which 
to  work.  Suppose,  for  the  sake  of  argu- 
ment, that  there  is  in  front  of  us  a  gar- 
den, well  watered,  carefully  tilled,  prop- 
erly tended.  The  soil  is  rich  and  fertile. 
I  am  going  to  bring  into  that  garden 
something  that  I  may  plant  there;  and  I 
hold  in  my  hands  two  things:  a  pebble 
that  I  have  picked  from  the  seashore — 
smooth  and  beautiful  in  form — and  an 
acorn  that  has  just  been  shaken  from  the 
oak  by  autumn's  blast.  I  suppose  for 
the  moment  that  I  do  not  know  the  na- 
ture of  these  two  things.  They  are  about 
the  same  size;  they  are  not  unlike  in  ap- 
pearance; there  may  be  a  difference  in 
their  weight,  but  in  most  respects  they 
appear  to  the  casual  observer  to  be  very 
much    alike.     I    put   the   pebble  in  the 


Environment  51 

garden;  I  put  the  acorn  in  the  garden. 
The  environment  is  the  same  in  both 
cases,  the  soil  is  the  same,  and  the  same 
sun  with  shafts  of  light  will  penetrate 
the  soil,  and  the  same  soft  showers  will 
reach  the  pebble  and  the  acorn.  But 
you  have  already  solved  my  riddle,  and 
this  is  no  problem  to  you.  The  acorn 
will  burst  its  shell  in  spring;  and  we 
pass  rapidly  over  the  intervening  cen- 
turies, and  there  it  stands,  a  proud  oak 
battling  against  the  blasts  of  winter,  and 
in  its  turn  shedding  acorns  on  the  ground. 
Where  is  the  pebble  ?  No  one  has  dis- 
turbed its  resting-place.  It  is  there  still, 
a  lonely  pebble.  The  environment  is 
the  same — what,  then,  is  the  difference  ? 
Environment  must  have  a  basis.  In  the 
pebble  there  was  no  germ  of  life;  in  the 
acorn  there  was.  The  perfect  environ- 
ment of  soil  and  light  and  air  upon  the 
pebble  produced  no  result;  but  upon  the 
acorn  it  produced  the  springing  of  life 
out  of  death. 

*'ln  God  we  live,  and  move,  and  have 
our  being";  and  there  is  no  exception. 


62  Life  Problems 

It  is  not  the  preacher,  the  Church  mem- 
bers, the  Christian  people  merely,  that  in 
God  do  "live,  and  move,  and  have  their 
being."  Every  soul — the  most  profligate 
man,  the  most  licentious  man,  the  most 
greedy  man,  the  most  ungodly  man, 
"lives,  and  moves,  and  has  his  being  in 
God."  Life  to  one  man  means  growth, 
advancement,  movement  ever  on,  until 
that  man  is  as  a  tree  planted  by  the  rivers 
of  water,  and  his  influence  is  going  out, 
not  only  in  his  own  generation,  but  to 
the  generation  of  generations.  The  other 
man,  living  in  the  same  environment,  is 
unmoved  thereby.  God  Himself  cannot 
act  upon  that  man  so  as  to  produce  the 
fruit,  and  life,  and  beauty  that  are  being 
produced  in  an  identical  environment  in 
the  case  of  his  brother  man.  Now, 
wherein  lies  the  difference  ?  In  the  one 
the  spirit-life  is  dead.  To  use  an  ex- 
pression of  Scripture,  so  glibly  quoted, 
and  yet  so  little  trembled  at,  that  man 
is  "dead  in  trespasses  and  sins."  His 
lower  life  is  there,  the  physical  basis  is 
there;  but  that  never  consciously  touches 


Environrrent  53 

God.  Flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit 
the  Kingdom  of  God.  The  mental  vigor 
is  still  there — keen  and  wondrous;  but 
that  never  consciously  touches  God,  for 
"no  man  by  searching  can  find  out 
God."  The  spirit  neglected,  starved,  is 
dead;  and  that  man  living  in  God  never 
feels  Him,  never  responds  to  the  tender, 
gracious  influences  of  the  Divine  heart 
and  the  Divine  strength.  This  man,  on 
the  other  hand,  has  spirit  dominant,  and 
has  recognized  that  man  is  more  than 
matter  and  mental  power,  and  recog- 
nizing it,  has  yielded  himself  to  Divine 
control,  and  in  that  act  of  yielding  he 
has  been  born  again.  He  has  passed 
from  death  unto  life;  he  has  become  a 
new  creature.  For  him  "  old  things  have 
passed  away  and  all  things  have  become 
new,"  so  that  he  touches  God  and  feels 
the  Eternal,  and  communes  with  the  Di- 
vine; and  that  touch,  that  feeling,  that 
communion,  are  creating  character,  and 
building  it  for  the  palace  and  the  home 
of  the  Eternal.  One  man  lives  in  his 
environment    consciously,    because    his 


64  Life  Problems 

own  spirit  is  quickened  by  the  Eternal 
Spirit  of  God.  The  other,  living  in  the 
same  environment,  does  not  know  it, 
because  he  is  dead  in  his  trespasses  and 
in  his  sins. 

In  a  few  closing  sentences  I  want  to 
make  a  personal  application  of  this  study 
in  order  that  I  may  help  some  soul  who 
feels  the  contradiction  and  the  difficulty 
of  environment. 

Man  is  saying:  ''Certainly  I  could  be  a 
Christian  IF  I  could  get  out  of  this  po- 
sition; if  I  could  get  out  of  this  business; 
this  particular  situation  in  which  I  am  en- 
gaged, where  there  are  ungodly  men 
round  about  me.  If  I  only  lived  in  your 
home  instead  of  mine,  I  could  be  a  Chris- 
tian.    My  environment  is  against  me." 

If  you  cannot  be  a  Christian  where 
you  are,  you  cannot  be  a  Christian  any- 
where. God  is  no  more  in  my  home 
than  in  thine. 

C"It  is  so  easy  to  be  Christians  while 
we  are  in  the  sanctuary,  and  the  very 
breath  of  eternity  is  upon  us  and  God  is 
at  hand.    To-morrow  in  the  city,  in  the 


Environment  56 

workshop,  in  the  office,  on  the  mart,  it 
is  very  hard." 

God  is  no  more  in  the  sanctuary  thart- 
He  is  in  your  shop,  or  your  office,  or 
the  mart;  and  it  is  no  more  difficult  to 
pray  when  ungodly  men  are  thronging 
around  you  than  it  is  to  pray  here. 

So  long  as  you  are  longing  for  free- 
dom from  your  present  environment  to 
be  a  Christian,  you  will  never  find  the 
deliverance  you  seek. 

What,  then,  is  needed  ?  That  you 
should  believe  what  you  think  you  be- 
lieve. The  most  difficult  thing  to  get  a 
man  to  believe  is  the  thing  which  he 
thinks  he  does  believe.  You  believe  in 
God — you  live,  and  move,  and  have  your 
being  in  Him.  Believe  that — believe  that 
only,  believe  that  supremely,  and  then 
begin  life  in  that  belief.  And  in  that  be- 
lief, believe  above  everything  else  that 

«  Hell  is  nigh,  but  God  is  nigher, 
Circling  you  with  hosts  of  fire." 

The  poor  trembling  servant  of  the 
prophet,  when  he  saw  the  "host  with 
horses  and    chariots    round    about    the 


56  Life  Problems 

city,"  said,  "Alas,  my  master!  how  shall 
we  do  ?  "  It  was  a  false  vision  of  envi- 
ronment. But  the  prophet  had  the  true 
vision.  He  replied:  "Fear  not;  for 
they  that  be  with  us  are  more  than  they 
that  be  with  them."  Then  he  prayed, 
"Lord,  I  pray  Thee,  open  his  eyes  that 
he  may  see."  The  servant  looked,  and 
"behold,  the  mountain  was  full  of  horses 
and  chariots  of  fire  round  about  Elisha." 

That  is  the  lesson.  God  is  superior  to 
the  slum  or  the  tenement;  to  ungodly 
companions  or  influence  God  is  greater 
than  the  sneer  of  the  mocker.  Live  in 
God  consciously,  and  thou  hast  found 
the  environment  that  is  highest  and  clos- 
est and  strongest,  the  environment  which 
is  superior  to  all  others. 

Yes ;  but  how  can  I  get  to  God ?  "No 
man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  Me." 
"Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  that  are  weary 
and  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you 
rest."  "  Him  that  cometh  to  Me  I  will 
in  no  wise  cast  out." 

May  God  help  us  to  believe  the  things 
we  think  we  believe. 


Ill 

HEREDITY 


"  For  as  by  one  man's  disobedience  many  were 
made  sinners,  so  by  the  obedience  of  one  shall  many 
be  made  righteous.  Moreover,  the  law  entered, 
that  the  offence  might  abound.  But  where  sin 
abounded,  grace  did  much  more  abound :  that  as  sin 
hath  reigned  unto  death,  even  so  might  jitace  reign 
through  righteousness  unto  eternal  life  by  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord."— Romans  v.  19-21. 


Ill 

HEREDITY 

The  subject  as  announced  is  that  of 
Heredity;  but  I  want  to  take  another 
word,  Inheritance,  because  it  is  a  larger 
word  in  its  application  to  these  great 
truths.  Heredity  tells  only  half  of,^th£ 
story  of  human  inheritance.  'Something 
else  must  be  told^corTcerning  every  soul, 
and  the  telling  of  that  something  else  is 
the  telling  of  the  provision  of  God's  love. 

Every  babe  is,  as  Charles  Kingsley 
sang,  ''heir  of  all  the  ages  gain";  and 
every  child  starts  out  upon  the  journey 
of  life  with  certain  inheritances,  for 
which  he  has  either  to  thank  or  curse  his 
forerunners.  Whether  we  go  back  to 
the  old  theological  statement  of  this 
doctrine,  and  speak  of  the  fall  of  man, 
and  of  the  effect  that  fall  has  produced 
upon  the  whole  human  race  right  to  this 
time,  or  no,  we  must  all  admit  this  truth. 

59 


60  Life  Problems 

It  is  being  preaclied  to  us,  both  from  the 
pulpit  and  the  scientific  platform,  that 
man  is  connected  with  those  who  have 
gone  before  him  so  closely  that  he  is  in- 
fluenced directly  and  positively  by  them. 
I  am  not  attempting  to  explain  the  mys- 
tery of  it — that  is  not  my  domain;  I  an- 
nounce the  fact. 

This  paragraph  includes  the  whole 
problem;  and  in  forceful,  clear,  intelli- 
gent language  makes  a  statement  con- 
cerning it  to  which  we  are  bound  to  pay 
attention,  because  of  its  paramount  im- 
portance. Our  scheme  is,  firstly,  to  con- 
sider this  subject  of  heredity  as  a  part  of 
human  inheritance;  secondly,  to  consider 
the  apostle's  statement  concerning  grace  as 
complementary;  and  thirdly,  to  endeavor 
to  deduce  from  that  twofold  considera- 
tion the  possibilities  which  lie  before 
every  one  of  us,  as  we  face  life  with  all 
its  mystery  and  its  conflict. 

I 
In  the  first  place,  we  shall  consider  the 
Biblical  statement  of  the  law  of  heredity. 


Heredity  61 

*'  For  as  by  one  man's  disobedience  many 
were  made  sinners."  There  are  hundreds 
of  men  to-day  who  put  their  hand  upon 
that  verse  and  quarrel  with  its  theological 
statement,  who,  nevertheless,  are  preach- 
ing this  great  doctrine  of  heredity.  Mag- 
azine writers  tell  us  that  what  a  man  is, 
what  a  man  does,  and  what  a  man  will 
finally  become,  depend  upon  the  color  of 
his  hair,  upon  the  form  of  his  physical 
being,  upon  what  some  one  was  before 
him.  But  if  you  tell  them  that  doctrine 
is  acknowledged,  recognized  here  in  the 
theology  of  Paul,  those  men  are  as- 
tonished; and  yet  it  is  so.  **By  one 
man's  disobedience  many  were  made 
sinners." 

When  life  becomes  something  more  to 
me  than  a  game;  when  1  cease  to  look 
upon  the  days  as  opportunities  for  play 
— and  every  man  does  sooner  or  later 
feel  that  life  is  more  than  a  game,  the 
world  other  than  a  mere  playground — 
then  I  look  out  upon  my  future  and  hear 
the  call  of  the  Divine.  Within  the  heart 
of  the  thinking  man  as  he  faces  life,  there 


62  Life  Problems 

sound  voices  calling  him  to  high  and 
noble  living.  He  may  not  be  able  to 
understand  or  explain  them ;  he  may  not 
detect  from  whence  they  come,  or  whose 
they  are — those  strange,  luring  voices — 
but  they  are  there.  Then  that  man 
awakens  to  find  that  he  is  not  free  from 
vices  which  he  has  not  chosen;  he  re- 
alizes that  there  lies  within  the  confines 
of  his  own  individuality — in  what  realm 
he  can  hardly  tell;  whether  physical, 
mental,  or  spiritual,  he  is  hardly  cogni- 
zant in  those  early  days — a  tendency  that 
propels  him,  and  inclinations  that  draw 
him  along  certain  lines  of  life. 

Let  us  understand  that  those  inclina- 
tions and  tendencies — the  dominant  in- 
clinations and  tendencies  of  that  man's 
life — may  not  be  evil.  A  man  may  find, 
some  summer  morning,  when  the  king 
of  day  is  just  lighting  the  mountains  with 
his  coming  glory,  edging  them  with  a 
golden  hue,  and  the  dew  is  quivering 
and  sparkling  upon  the  grass,  and  the 
voice  of  the  bird  is  all  that  breaks  the 
hushed  stillness— he  may  find  that  within 


Heredity  63 

him  there  dwells  the  sacred  muse.  He 
was  a  born  poet;  but  he  never  discov- 
ered it  until  that  morning.  How  did  it 
happen  ?  You  cannot  explain  the  mys- 
tery. You  may  philosophize  concerning 
it,  and  argue  about  it;  but  there  it  is. 

It  may  be  that  he  discovered — on  some 
evening  when  the  sun  went  westering, 
bathing  the  clouds  with  a  wondrous 
glory,  tinging  them  with  gold,  and  tell- 
ing the  weary  watchers  that  behind  the 
darkness  there  was  the  very  splendor  of 
God — that  he  was  an  artist;  he  was  that 
before,  but  he  had  not  recognized  it.  He 
had  inherited  it.  It  had  come  to  him 
after  skipping — in  some  strange  and  un- 
accountable fashion — one  or  more  gen- 
erations, bringing  into  his  life  the  poetry 
of  those  who  had  gone  before;  the 
power  to  see,  which  some  forerunner 
had. 

But  almost  more  constantly  man  awak- 
ens to  find  that  the  thing  within  him — 
which  is  there  without  his  consent,  with- 
out his  creating — is  an  evil  thing.  He 
awakes  to  find  that  a  certain  desire  in 


64  Life  Problems 

his  life,  which  in  itself  is  natural — and  to 
say  that,  using  the  word  natural  in  its 
true  sense,  is  to  say  that  it  is  pure — is 
distorted  and  out  of  shape.  He  awakes 
to  find  that  there  is  a  passionate  desire, 
making  demands,  and  crying  with  force 
and  energy  and  unceasing  earnestness, 
"Give  me,  satisfy  me;  meet  my  need"; 
in  other  words,  a  man  awakes  to  find 
that  lust,  and  passion,  and  greed,  and 
evil  are  in  him.  He  looks  out  upon  life, 
heavily  handicapped  from  the  first,  with- 
out a  chance.  Let  us  look  these  things 
squarely  in  the  face,  for  this  is  the  true 
story  of  many  a  man's  life. 

Take  the  most  familiar  illustrations 
that  you  have  dealt  with  yourself  again 
and  again;  the  story  of  how  a  man 
awakens  to  find  that  he  was  born  a 
drunkard,  and  another  man  awakens  to 
find  that  he  was  born  impure.  He  can- 
not deny  it.  If  the  great  crowd  have 
never  realized  these  things,  it  is  because 
the  fires  of  passion  have  not  been  in- 
tense, because  in  their  lives  there  has 
been  no  consuming  sense  of  this  great 


Heredity  65 

fact — but  there  it  is.  I  talked  to  a  man 
some  year  or  two  ago  who  was  drink- 
ing. I  shall  never  forget  the  way  he  ap- 
palled me,  as  with  passionate  earnestness 
he  looked  into  my  face  and,  said,  "Sir, 
don't  talk  to  me  about  drink."  "But 
why?"  I  asked.  "Because,"  he  said, 
"you  are  ignorant  concerning  it."  "  But 
what  do  you  mean  ? "  "  You  talk  to  me 
about  a  desire  for  it,  and  you  know  noth- 
ing of  what  you  are  talking  about.  Do 
you  know  that  my  father  and  his  father 
both  committed  suicide  while  in  delirium 
tremens.^  Drink!"  he  said;  "you  put  a 
glass  of  wine  there,  and  tell  me  of  a  cer- 
tainty, upon  the  oath  of  God,  that  if  I 
drink  I  will  be  shot— 1  would  drink  it!  " 

We  have  to  face  these  facts.  Young 
men  who  are  going  from  our  city  and 
country  homes  are  suddenly  over- 
whelmed, and  fall  in  the  conflict.  Why  ? 
They  did  not  choose  the  sinful  things; 
but  suddenly,  under  certain  conditions 
of  life,  they  find  a  devil  in  them  that  had 
been  sleeping.  Somehow  he  is  aroused, 
and  he  masters  them.     They  have  inher- 


66  Life  Problems 

ited  evil  tendencies  from  some  one  gone 
before.  So  tliat  I  say  to-day  men  are 
starting  in  life  from  this  standpoint  with- 
out the  semblance  of  a  chance;  they  are 
handicapped  in  the  race  from  the  begin- 
ning, and  from  before  their  birth. 

That  is  exactly  what  the  apostle  says 
here:  "By  one  man's  disobedience" — 
and  whether  that  man  be  Adam  or  your 
father,  it  does  not  affect  the  matter — 
"  By  one  man's  disobedience  many  were 
made  sinners."  That  is  the  great  law: 
sinners  by  birth;  sinners  by  the  very 
force  that  dwells  within  them,  and  for 
which  they  are  not  responsible.  Such  is 
the  story  of  the  lives  of  thousands  of  our 
fellow-men  to-day.  What  have  we  to 
say  to  these  things  ?  What  has  the 
preacher  to  say  ?  What  has  the  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ  to  say  ?  What  has  the 
gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  to  say  ? 

II 

It  has  to  say  that  there  is  another  truth 
which  Jesus  Christ  came  to  proclaim, 
side  by  side  with  that  first  one;  and  that 


Heredity  67 

the  man  who  only  declares  that,  tells  but 
half  the  common  truth  of  every  life  and 
soul  of  man.  And  what  is  the  other 
truth  ?  It  is  contained  in  this  same  pas- 
sage to  the  Romans,  and  the  20th  verse, 
*'  Where  sin  abounded,  grace  did  much 
more  abound  " ;  and  that  statement  of  the 
20th  verse  is  linked  to  the  second  half  of 
the  19th  verse:  **So  by  the  obedience  of 
one  shall  many  be  made  righteous. 
Where  sin  abounded  grace  did  much 
more  abound." 

In  order  that  we  /nay  understand  the 
force  of  this  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God 
— and  this  really  is  the  gospel  of  the  grace 
of  God — we  must  get  back  from  that 
position  upon  which  we  have  been 
standing,  and  consider  it  from  a  different 
standpoint.  First  of  all  we  must  come 
to  understand  that  God  always  deals 
with  man  personally  and  individually. 
This  seems  a  very  difficult  statement  in 
face  of  what  we  have  been  saying. 

Those  of  you  who  have  read  Ezekiel 
xviii.,  will  remember  that  it  opens  with 
a  challenge  on  the  part  of  God  to  the 


68  Life  Problems 

/people  of  Israel,    and  the  challenge  is 
/  this:  *'How  say  ye,   The  fathers   have 
j    eaten  sour  grapes,    and    the    children's 
I    teeth  are  set  on  edge?"     That  proverb 
\    has  not  dropped  out  of  use;   men  are 
\  perpetually  using  it.     You  will  hear  it 
\  in  conversation  to-day  and  to-morrow. 
You  will  hear  the  story  of  some  young 
man's  wrongdoing,  and  hear  some  one 
commenting  upon  it;  and  of  the  wrong- 
doing of  his  father,  saying,  with  a  wise 
look  and  a  shake  of  the  head,  that  has 
more  in  it  than  all  the  speech:  "Yes,  the 
fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes,  and  the 
children's    teeth    are     set     on     edge." 
"Well,  but,"  you  say,  "is  it  not  true?" 
Absolutely  untrue.     That  proverb  that  is 
binding  and   misleading  men  is    abso- 
lutely false.     There    is  no  truth  in  it. 
"  Surely,  but  it  is  in  the  Bible?"    Twice. 
~~^  It  is  both  in  Ezekiel  and  Jeremiah.     But 
it  is  there  in  order  that  it  may  be  contra- 
dicted.    You  search  the  context  out  for 
yourselves.     It  is  not  a  clear,  lucid,  true, 
correct  statement  of  God's  dealing  with 
men  to  say,  "The  fathers  eat,  and  the 


Heredity  69 


children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge."  God 
does  not  punish  a  son  for  his  father 
wrongdoing.  "Oh,  but  surely  that  is 
not  correct.  Do  we  not  read  in  Exodus, 
where  the  law  is  given,  *  I  the  Lord  thy 
God  am  a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniq- 
uities of  the  fathers  upon  the  children 
even  unto  the  third  and  fourth  genera- 
tion.' Does  it  not  say  that  ?  "  No.  * '  Oh, 
but  it  does."  Find  it  and  read  it.  I  will 
let  any  man  read  it  who  can  find  it.  It 
does  not  say  it  at  all;  it  is  not  in  the 
Book,  my  friend.  "Then,  what  does  it 
say?"  Listen,  "I  the  Lord  thy  God  am 
a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniquities  of 
the  fathers  upon  the  children  unto  the 
third  and  fourth  generation  of  them  that 
hate  Me."  And  you  have  no  right  to 
miss  out  these  five  words,  and  rob  the 
whole  passage  of  its  essential  meaning. 
What  is  its  essential  meaning?  If  the 
generations  continue  to  hate,  they  will 
have  punishment;  and  it  goes  still  fur- 
ther— "and  showing  mercy  unto  thou- 
sands of  them  that  love  Me."  And  that 
is  what  Ezekiel  says.    Goa  says:  "All 


od    CX 
:r's    A 


70  Life  Problems 

souls  are  Mine;  I  take  man  by  man,  in- 
dividually " ;  and  if  the  father  is  a  good 
man  and  the  son  is  evil,  the  son  shall  be 
punished;  and  if  the  father  is  an  evil 
man,  and  the  son  is  righteous,  the  son  is 
not  to  be  punished  for  the  evil  'of  the 
father,  but  he  is  to  live. 

But  is  not  this  more  difficult  of  com- 
prehension; for  remember,  I  emphasize 
it  and  abide  by  it.  I  want  you  to  see 
that  God  does  not  visit  the  iniquity  of 
the  father  upon  the  children;  that  God 
does  not  smite,  and  strike,  and  burn  a 
man,  even  in  this  life,  because  his  father 
was  evil.  Why,  the  whole  conception 
is  blasphemy. 

Then  what  are  we  to  do?  We  are 
side  by  side  and  face  to  face  with  two 
apparently  contradictory  statements. 
Man  does  not  start  fair  in  life;  he  is 
handicapped  through  hereditary  tenden- 
cies in  his  blood.  If  he  sin,  he  is  pun- 
ished; and  yet  you  tell  me  that  God 
takes  man  by  himself,  and  deals  with 
him  without  reference  to  what  his  father 
was.     Perfectly  true.     I  am  not  going  to 


Heredity  Yl 

call  into  question  the  character  of  God, 
to  lay  this  down  as  something  I  am 
bound  to  discover  somewhere  or  other, 
in  some  way  or  other.  If  this  law  be  a 
law  of  life  from  which  I  cannot  escape, 
that  1  inherit  the  tendencies  to  wrong 
from  my  father;  and  if  it  be  also  law 
that  God  takes  me,  and  deals  with  me, 
and  punishes  or  rewards  me,  without 
any  reference  to  my  connection  with  my 
father,  then  in  order  to  do  that,  He  must, 
somewhere  and  somehow,  provide  an 
antidote  to  the  poison  which  is  already 
in  my  veins.  He  must  bring  to  me,  side 
by  side  with  the  tendencies  to  wrong, 
something  that  shall  be  at  any  rate  as 
strong  as  that  tendency,  and  that  is  able 
to  overcome  it.  That  is  the  logical  state- 
ment of  the  thing  as  I  understand  it; 
that  is,  if  God  be  "just" — I  will  not  say 
"love."  I  want  to  put  this  superlatively, 
especially  to  some  young  man  feeling 
the  force  of  some  hereditary  taint,  and 
help  him,  as  the  gospel  has  helped 
me. 
I  have  a  tendency  to  a  form  of  evil  in 


Y2  Life  Problems 

my  nature  and  in  my  blood;  and  then  I 
come  here  and  I  read,  "God  will  not 
punish  my  father  if  I  go  wrong.  The 
soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die."  And  I 
take  my  stand  in  one  of  those  solemn 
moments  of  life  to  which  man  comes 
when  he  rises  in  his  true  dignity,  and, 
realizing  he  has  a  right  to  deal  with  God, 
he  says,  in  the  presence  of  the  Holy 
One,  "I  did  not  choose  to  be  born  with 
this  tendency  to  evil.  It  is  here  without 
my  choice  and  without  my  consent;  and 
if  Thou,  O  God,  art  going  to  deal  with 
me  upon  the  pure  line  of  righteousness, 
without  reference  to  the  things  I  have  re- 
ceived from  my  forefathers,  then,  if 
Thou  art  a  just  God,  Thou  must  provide 
an  antidote  of  force  greater  than  the 
force  that  is  born  within  me,  that  will 
quench  its  fires  and  set  me  free;  and  I 
am  bold  to  say,  if  the  gospel  has  no  mes- 
sage like  that,  it  is  no  gospel  for  me." 
It  may  be  a  gospel  for  a  man  who  has 
not  experienced  the  fires  of  passion. 
From  a  gospel  that  merely  says,  "Copy 
this  perfect  example,"  I  turn  away;  for 


Heredity  73 

it  cannot  be  mine  because  of  the  fires 
that  exhaust  my  physical  power,  de- 
throne my  mental  vigor,  paralyze  my 
brain,  and  dim  my  vision.  I  must  have 
a  negation  of  evil,  stronger  than  the  nega- 
tion of  good  that  Hows  in  my  veins,  and 
throbs  in  my  nerves,  and  masters  me, 
whether  1  will  or  not.  Now,  that  much 
I  say,  God  must  do  what  my  text  tells 
me  He  has  done.  Just  as  "  by  one  man's 
sins  or  disobedience,  many  were  made 
sinners,  so  by  the  obedience  of  one  shall 
many  be  made  righteous." 

What  is  this  story,  then  ?  It  is  the  old 
story  that  1  need  not  stay  to  tell.  It  is 
the  story  of  the  coming  from  heaven  of 
God  to  tabernacle  in  human  flesh,  and 
live  human  life,  and  meet  human  temp- 
tation, and  overcome  all  that  temptation. 
It  is  the  story  of  God  suffering  for  sin; 
it  is  the  story  of  the  Cross  upon  which 
the  pure  life  of  the  one  perfect  Man  was 
given  as  a  ransom  for  many,  so  that  by 
His  coming,  and  His  pure  living,  and  His 
sacrificial  dying.  He  has  brought  to  every 
soul  a  second  inheritance,  the  inheritance 


74  Life  Problems 

of  powerful,  forceful,  valuable  righteous- 
ness. 

Am  I  born  to  passion's  fires  ?  I  am 
also  born  to  the  quenching  power  of  the 
love  of  Jesus.  Am  I  born  with  tenden- 
cies to  wrong  ?  I  am  also  born  to  that 
Holy  Spirit  as  a  birthright  which  can 
hold,  keep,  and  purify  me,  and  present 
me  at  last  in  the  very  presence  of  God. 
Do  you  tell  me  to-night  that  your  father, 
or  his  father,  or  some  one  generations 
back,  was  given  over  to  some  fearful 
form  of  sin,  and  that,  although  it  has 
been  slumbering  for  two  generations,  it 
has  reappeared  in  your  life;  and  do  you 
tell  me,  with  a  wail  of  anguish,  that  that 
is  your  inheritance — that  awful  form  of 
sin,  that  has  gripped  you  with  irresisti- 
ble tenacity,  and  thwarted  you  at  every 
turn  ?  My  brother,  I  tell  you  that  there 
,is  another  inheritance;  that  you  are  born 
to  the  hfe  of  Christ.  When  you  come 
here,  the  story  is  so  old  that  men  have 
begun  to  be  uninterested.  Oh,  how  one 
longs,  not  for  a  new  theology,  but  for  a 
new  setting  and  phrasing  of  it,  that  shall 


Heredity  75 

arrest  the  thought  of  men  to-day!  I  am 
not  here  to  preach  morality  as  a  beautiful 
thing — every  one  believes  it.  We  are  all 
agreed  upon  that.  I  do  not  think  there 
is  anybody,  I  do  not  care  how  far  down 
he  may  be,  who  does  not  believe  that 
purity,  and  righteousness,  and  morality, 
are  lovely  attributes  of  man's  nature.  I 
am  not  here  to  talk  about  that,  I  announce 
this  fact:  that  where  there  is  a  man  fast 
bound  with  chains  of  sin  and  passion 
and  lust,  Christ  by  the  power  of  His 
Holy  Spirit  can  shatter  those  chains,  and 
quench  those  fires,  and  set  that  man  free. 

You,  my  brother,  have  a  twofold  in- 
heritance: you  have  the  inheritance  to 
evil  which  has  mastered  you  hitherto, 
and  thwarted  your  best  intentions;  and 
you  have  also  the  inheritance  in  the 
power  of  Jesus  Christ  that  is  to  come  in, 
and  be  the  force  that  releases  you. 

Oh,  accept  it,  will  you,  not  as  theory, 
but  as  fact  proven  again  and  again  in 
the  past  nineteen  hundred  years;  proven 
again  and  again  in  this  very  year.  If 
we  could  only  institute  a  strict  enquiry, 


76  Life  Problems 

there  are  thousands  of  souls  who  would 
testify  to  this  fact :  "  I  was  the  slave  of  sin, 
of  lust,  of  passion,  of  greed,  of  unright- 
eousness; but  Jesus  Christ  coming  into 
my  life  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
has  set  me  free."  And  when  they  have 
borne  their  testimony,  we  will  be  hard 
and  critical,  and  say,  "  That  is  the  testi- 
mony of  thy  own  lips;  so  now  tell  me 
what  do  thy  neighbors  and  friends  say  ? 
Let  the  worldly  man  come  in  and  tell  me 
how  that  man  lives  who  is  a  Christian, 
and  the  testimony  from  the  world  will 
be  overwhelming."  "  We  have  seen  the 
transformation  wrought  by  the  Son  of 
God;  we  have  seen  our  neighbors — iras- 
cible, sour,  hard-hearted — become  ten- 
der, sweet,  loving,  compassionate,  like 
the  very  Son  of  God  Himself."  The 
testimony  is  on  every  hand.  Have  we 
not  a  right  to  apply  a  scientific  test  to 
that  matter,  as  to  all  others  ?  If  we  can 
find  one  man,  a  thousand  men,  a  million 
men,  in  the  course  of  the  ages  of  the 
Christian  era,  who  have  been  absolutely 
transformed,  perfectly  re-made,  changed, 


Heredity  T7 

so  that  there  was  no  comparison  between 
what  they  are  and  what  they  were,  have 
we  not  a  right  to  say  something  has 
wrought  this  ?  And  have  we  not  a  right 
to  accept  that  great  united  testimony  as 
it  comes  upon  us — that  what  has  wrought 
it  has  been  the  grace  of  God  ? 

My  brother,  I  want  you  to  see  the  force 
of  this.  It  is  not  merely  that  there  is  for 
you  an  inheritance  of  a  power  to  be 
righteous  which  is  equivalent  to  the 
power  of  evil.  I  like  the  grandeur  and 
the  overwhelming  magnificence  of  Paul's 
expression,  "Where  sin  abounded,  grace 
did  much  more  abound."  What  are  the 
possibilities  that  grow  out  of  it  ?  Let  us 
simply  put  our  hands  on  them.  That  is 
all  we  can  do.  "That,"  in  the  last  verse, 
"as  sin  hath  reigned,  grace  may  reign 
through  righteousness  unto  eternal  life." 
There  are  three  points,  then,  of  the  result 
of  the  coming  into  this  life  of  the  power 
of  the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  three 
points  are  these:  (i)  Regnant  sin  is  de- 
posed, and  (2)  in  its  place  the  grace  of 
Jesus  Christ  takes  the  throne  and  reigns; 


78  Life  Problems 

and  (3)  the  result  is  "eternal  life";  and 
that  eternal  life  is  not  merely  life  that  is 
long-continued,  but  life  that  is  broad  and 
wide  and  magnificent  in  its  possibilities. 

Ill 

Now,  to  gather  up  the  great  lessons 
that  I  want  to  inscribe  upon  your  hearts 
and  mine.  You  have  inherited  a  tend- 
ency to  evil.  I  grant  it  you.  You  didn't 
choose  it.  You  were  born  with  it.  Now 
listen:  God  never  yet  has,  and  never  will, 
punish  any  man  for  inheriting  anything. 

In  the  next  place,  let  me  say  that  he- 
redity is  not  the  final  word.  Reverting  to 
what  I  said  at  the  commencement — the 
color  of  your  hair,  and  the  shape  of 
your  head,  and  your  temperament,  are 
not  all  the  story  of  your  own  life.  What 
is  the  other  side  ?  The  grace  of  God ;  the 
Spirit  of  God.  Grace  is  the  complement; 
grace  is  the  negative  of  sin.  You  are 
born  with  a  tendency  to  sin,  but  you  are 
also  born  into  the  birthright  of  the  life 
and  passion  of  the  Son  of  God;  and  so 
Jesus  Christ  becomes  the  touchstone  of 


Heredity  79 

character.  Reject  Him,  and  you  are  a 
victim  to  those  tendencies  which  are 
slumbering  within  your  own  nature;  but 
accept  Him,  and  you  may  put  your  con- 
quering foot  upon  every  enemy  that  faces 
you,  and  in  His  name  have  the  victory. 
Thus  Christ  becomes  the  touchstone  of 
judgment.  The  question  before  the  throne 
of  eternal  righteousness  will  be,  "What 
did  this  man  and  that  man  do  with  Jesus  ?" 
It  will  not  be  available  for  me  to  say  in  the 
day  of  that  final  judgment,  "O  God,  I 
was  born  with  a  tendency  to  the  sin  that 
ruined  me:  is  there  no  excuse  for  me?" 
for  the  answer  of  the  impartial  Judge 
would  be,  "  If  thou  wast  born  with  a 
tendency  to  sin,  thou  wast  also  born  into 
the  birthright  of  the  conquering  life  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  didst  deliberately 
choose  to  reject  the  life  and  cling  to  the 
death;  then  that  choice  seals  thy  doom"- 
and  so,  by  this  provision  of  grace,  every 
man  still  stands  alone  in  his  responsi- 
bility to  God.  Every  man  has  this  chance 
— the  chance  of  what  Jesus  did  for  him 
upon  the  Cross  of  His  passion.      The 


80  Life  Problems 

whole  truth  concerning  my  inheritance 
is  not  told  until  I  have  understood  that  it 
is  a  twofold  inheritance,  from  Adam  and 
from  Jesus  Christ.  With  this  difference, 
that  my  inheritance  from  those  who  have 
gone  before  me  comes  to  me  along  the 
line  of  succession;  but  my  inheritance  in 
Jesus  Christ  He  has  trusted  to  no  line  of 
succession,  but  He  brings  it  to  me  Him- 
self, by  the  power  of  His  Spirit,  and  deals 
with  me  in  direct  personal  communion. 
Dost  thou  feel  that  passion  fires  are 
slumbering  within  thee  ?  Give  thyself  to 
the  Son  of  God;  and  by  His  Holy  Spirit 
He  will  quench  the  fires,  and  hold  you  in 
the  hollow  of  His  own  pierced  hand,  and 
make  you  pure  as  He  Himself  is  pure,  in 
the  day  that  He  presents  you  to  His 
Father.  All  tendency  to  sin  may  be  over- 
come, and  is  overcome  when  souls  are 
surrendered  to  the  Christ  of  God. 


IV 

SPIRITUAL  ANTAGONISM 


"Then  was  Jesus  lee'  up  of  the  Spirit  into  the 
wilderness  to  be  tempti2;d  of  the  devil." — Matt.  iv.  i. 

"For  in  that  Hi;  Himself  hath  suffered  being 
tempted,  He  is  abie  to  succor  them  that  are  tempted." 
— Heb.  ii.  1 8. 


IV 

SPIRITUAL  ANTAGONISM 

PpRHAPS  one  of  the  greatest  and  most 
mysterious  problems  of  life  is  that  of 
spiritual  antagonism.  Beyond  the  disa- 
bilities of  environment  and  heredity  there 
is  yet  this  other.  To  every  soul  there 
comes  from  without  an  intelligent  sug- 
gestion of  evil,  enticement  toward  evil, 
provision  for  evil. 

Quite  apart  from  the  temptations  which 
come  to  us  from  the  ordinary  environ- 
ment of  everyday  living,  or  from  the 
tendencies  toward  evil  with  which  we 
are  born,  there  is  this  subtlest,  pro- 
foundest  danger;  in  other  words,  we 
have  to  contend  not  only  with  the  world 
and  the  flesh,  but  also  with  the  devil. 

There  are  great  mysteries  concerning 
the  existence  of  these  spiritual  adver- 
saries which  I  do  not  stay  to  discuss. 
83 


84  Life  Problems 

Let  it  only  be  said,  here  and  now,  that  to 
my  own  heart  one  of  the  great  sources 
of  hope,  in  life  and  work  and  outlook,  is 
to  be  found  in  the  supreme  conviction 
that  I  hold  of  the  existence  of  actual 
spiritual  enemies.  Did  I  not  believe  in 
the  existence  of  Satan  and  his  emissaries, 
then  I  must  believe  that  all  the  dark  and 
dreadful  deeds  that  smirch  the  page  of 
human  history  have  their  origin  in  human 
nature.  This  1  do  not  believe.  Outside 
our  planet  there  is  evil,  sin,  wrong;  these 
are  not  the  natural  products  of  that  great 
creation  of  God,  of  which  we  form  not 
only  a  part,  but  the  crown  and  glory: 
evil  is  not  indigenous  to  the  soil  of  the 
earth,  it  is  an  importation;  and  its  exist- 
ence in  other  realms  is  a  mystery,  abso- 
lutely beyond  the  possibility  of  our  ex- 
plaining or  understanding. 

We  have  to  face  the  fact  of  its  exist- 
ence, side  by  side  with  that  other  sublimer 
fact,  that  our  aspirations  are  Godward. 
We  have  endeavored,  so  far,  to  think  of 
the  evil  that  is  around  and  within;  now 
we  consider  these  spiritual  antagonisms, 


Spiritual  Antagonism  86 

and  desire  to  learn  how  we  are  to  com- 
bat these  forces,  so  as  to  gain  complete 
victory  over  them. 

Jesus  came  to  reveal  God  to  man.  He 
came  also  to  reveal  man  to  man.  Apart 
from  Him — His  person,  His  character, 
His  teaching — we  can  have  no  true  con- 
ception of  the  Divine  ideal  for  man;  but 
in  Him  we  have  a  concrete  example  of 
the  great  thought  that  possessed  the 
mind  of  Deity  when  God  said,  "Let  us 
make  man." 

May  I  take  you  one  step  further  upon 
the  line  of  the  truth  that  Jesus  is  the  Re- 
vealer,  and  say  that  He  came  not  only  to 
reveal  God  and  Man,  but  also  those  very 
spiritual  forces  that  oppose  us?  It  is 
only  as  we  study  the  life  and  conflict  of 
the  perfect  Man  that  we  are  able  to  un- 
derstand all  the  subtlety  and  the  power  of 
the  enemies  that  are  against  us.  Out  of 
obscurity  into  brightest  light  He  dragged 
these  forces;  and  from  His  dealing  with 
them  we  are  to  learn  our  relationship  to 
them,  and  the  possibility  of  our  triumph 
over  them.     Man  had  been  tempted  and 


86  Life  Problems 

tried  in  all  the  ages.  Prior  to  His  com- 
ing, these  forces  had  ever  been  busy 
spoiling  the  work  of  God  and  marring 
its  beauty.  He. came  and  revealed  the 
enemies  in  the  light  of  His  pure  life.  No 
part  of  that  revelation  of  Satan  is  more 
startling,  more  vivid,  more  commanding, 
than  the  story  to  which  this  first  verse  of 
Matthew  iv.  is  the  introduction. 

He  went,  the  last  Adam,  no  longer  to 
the  perfect  environment  of  the  Garden  of 
Eden,  but  to  the  loneliness  and  the  deadly 
desolation  of  the  wilderness,  in  order 
that  His  humanity  might  pass  beyond  the 
stage  of  innocence  into  that  of  holiness; 
that  He  might  not  only  be  innocent  and 
pure,  but  triumphant  over  the  forces  of 
evil  that  had  wrecked  all  before.  Satan 
confronted  Him  with  threefold  tempta- 
tion— to  make  stones  into  bread ;  to  se- 
cure the  kingdoms  of  the  world;  to  fling 
Himself  from  the  pinnacle  of  the  temple. 
With  that  story,  so  familiar  to  us  all,  as 
a  background,  we  shall  proceed  to  con- 
sider, firstly,  the  revelation  of  evil  that 
Jesus  gives;  secondly.  His  conquest  of 


Spiritual  Antagonism  87 

evil:  and  from  that  twofold  considera- 
tion we  shall  draw  the  comfort  of  the 
second  verse  that  I  have  chosen,  "That 
He  Himself  having  suffered  being 
tempted,  is  able  to  succor  them  that  are 
tempted," 

I 

What,  then,  is  the  revelation  of  evil 
that  we  have  in  this  wilderness  scene  ? 

(i)  That  evil  as  represented  by  Satan 
in  his  attack  upon  the  Christ  is  audacious 
effrontery.  The  devil  is  impulsed  by 
everything  foreign  to  the  nature  of  God. 
"  God  is  Love  " ;  but  Satan  is  the  embodi- 
ment of  cruel  hate.  "God  is  Light"; 
but  Satan's  suggestions  are  of  the  very 
nature  of  darkness.  "God  is  Liberty"; 
but  if  you  scrutinize  these  temptations, 
you  will  find  that  they  are  designed  to 
enslave. 

Jesus  is  the  realization  of  all  the  will 
and  purpose  of  the  Father.  "God  is 
Love";  at  once  He  is  the  tenderest  and 
strongest  expression  of  that  love.  "  God 
is  Light";  He  is  the  most  perfect  out- 


88  Life  Problems 

shining  of  that  light.  ' '  God  is  Liberty  " ; 
He  is  the  Son,  making  men  free  indeed. 
Through  all  the  years  of  His  life,  prior  to 
this  hour  of  temptation,  He  has  lived  in 
the  fierce  light  of  the  Eternal  Throne  of 
purity  and  righteousness,  and  no  single 
flaw  has  there  been  in  His  obedience. 

Yet  such  is  the  insolence  of  hell,  that 
it  will  attempt  to  blight  even  such  beauty. 
We  learn,  therefore,  that  no  regard  for 
conduct  will  prevent  his  approach;  no 
purity  of  yesterday  will  be  sufficient  to 
hinder  him  from  attempting  to  render  the 
soul  impure. 

(2)  In  the  second  place,  we  have  a 
revelation  of  the  subtlety  of  evil.  Evil 
chooses  its  time  of  attack.  There  is  no 
moment  when  the  soul  of  man  is  more 
susceptible  to  the  onslaught  of  evil  than 
after  some  high  vision  and  ecstasy.  Jesus 
had  come  from  the  seclusion  of  Nazareth 
to  the  waters  of  His  baptism,  where  He 
had  heard  the  voice  of  the  Father  saying, 
"This  is  My  beloved  Son,  in  Whom  I 
am  well  pleased." 

The  moment  when  we  are  most  in 


Spiritual  Antagonism  89 

danger  of  attack  is  the  moment  immedi- 
ately following  some  new  vision  of  God. 
The  devil  chooses  his  time. 

The  subtlety  is  more  clearly  evinced, 
however,  in  the  fact  that  he  advances 
upon  legal  lines.  A  hungry  man  must 
provide  bread  for  himself.  "  If  Thou  be 
the  Son  of  God,"  says  the  tempter, 
"command  these  stones  that  they  be 
made  bread."  That  is  the  first  tempta- 
tion ;  satisfaction  for  physical  need — not 
a  desire  for  luxury,  but  necessity — bread. 
He  does  not  come  to  the  pure  Soul  in  the 
awful  loneliness  of  the  wilderness  with  a 
temptation  to  evil  in  some  repulsive 
form,  but  with  a  suggestion  that  He 
should  provide  something  that  is  right  in 
itself.  Make  for  Thyself  bread,  O  hungry 
Man;  tired  and  weary  with  the  waiting 
and  loneliness  of  forty  days — bread! 

Not  only  does  he  advance  upon  legal 
lines,  but  he  bases  his  temptation  upon 
the  very  highest  relationships.  "  If  Thou 
be  the  Son  of  God" — he  does  not  say, 
''  Yield  Thy  Sonship,  set  it  aside  ";  but 
use  it,  and  use  it  not  for  what  appears  to 


90  Life  Problems 

be  wrong,  but  for  that  which  is  a  natural 
demand — make  bread.  *'If  Thou  wilt 
fall  down  and  worship  me,  all  these  king- 
doms, which  in  panoramic  view  I  have 
stretched  before  Thy  vision,  shall  be 
Thine."  Here,  also,  he  appeals  to  some- 
thing which  is  right.  It  is  to  possess 
these  kingdoms  that  this  Man  has  come; 
it  is  to  hold  the  sceptre  of  government 
over  these  kingdoms  that  He  has  lived, 
moved,  and  had  His  being  among  men. 
Satan  only  offers  Him  that  which  is  right, 
when  he  suggests  to  Him  that  He  should 
take  the  kingdoms. 

Again,  you  will  notice  that  he  proceeds 
along  the  line  of  righteousness.  He 
takes  Him  to  the  high  mountain — the 
Soul  in  loneliness — and  shows  Him  the 
kingdoms  of  the  earth,  and  suggests,  not 
that  He  should  give  up  fealty  and  wor- 
ship, but  that  He  shall  worship,  and  that 
He  shall  worship  one  who  appears  to 
have  a  right  over  these  kingdoms. 

Once  more  he  brings  Him  to  a  high 
pinnacle  of  the  temple,  and  says,  "If 
Thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  cast  Thyj^df 


Spiritual  Antagonism  91 

down;  for  it  is  written,  'He  shall  give 
His  angels  charge  concerning  Thee;  and 
in  their  hands  they  shall  bear  Thee  up, 
lest  at  any  time  Thou  dash  Thy  foot 
against  a  stone.'"  What  can  be  more 
beautiful  in  a  beautiful  soul,  more  pure 
in  a  pure  soul,  more  saintly  in  a  saint, 
than  that  the  beautiful,  pure,  saintly  One 
should  abandon  Himself  to  the  strength 
and  tenderness  of  the  Father?  "Here 
is  an  opportunity  for  Thee  to  prove  the 
Fatherhood  of  Thy  Father,  the  tender- 
ness of  His  love,  the  strength  of  His  arm. 
Step  out  upon  Him,  cast  Thyself  down, 
go  out  of  the  common  ruts  in  which 
men  so  long  have  travelled  in  their  trust, 
or  in  their  failure,  and,  by  a  magnificent 
renunciation  of  Thy  life,  test  thy  Father's 
love." 

No,  these  temptations  are  not  coarse, 
low,  vulgar,  in  the  common  acceptation 
of  those  words;  they  are  high,  spiritual, 
subtle,  insidious,  far-reaching  tempta- 
tions. Their  meaning  and  force  can  only 
be  learned  as  we  consider  the  resistance 
of  Christ  to  every  one   of  them.     We 


92  Life  Problems 

need  to  know  the  subtlety  of  the  foe 
with  whom  we  have  to  deal. 

(3)  Then,  again,  mark  his  persistence. 
The  conflict  does  not  begin  in  the  wil- 
derness. For  thirty  years  this  Man  has 
faced  temptation  in  some  form  or  other. 
Every  day  there  has  come  against  that 
pure  Soul  some  force  of  evil,  and  back- 
ward each  has  been  driven,  unable  to 
storm  the  impenetrable  barrier  of  Christ's 
mighty  purity.  In  every  case  He  has  put 
the  conquering  foot  of  His  humanity 
upon  the  neck  of  His  enemies,  scattering 
irretrievable  ruin  in  their  camp;  and  yet 
Satan  will  come  again,  even  though  He 
is  now  anew  baptized  with  the  Spirit 
from  on  high.  With  strange  and  awful 
persistence  he  will  dog  His  footsteps  to 
the  last.  After  that  temptation,  we  read, 
"The  devil  left  Him  for  a  little  season." 
Do  you  know  when  he  finally  left  Him  ? 
He  left  Him  on  the  Resurrection  morn- 
ing, and  never  till  then.  He  followed 
Him  to  Gethsemane;  and  I  hear  the  echo 
of  his  temptation  in  the  prayer  of  the 
Christ,  **  If  it  be  possible  let  this  cup  pass 


Spiritual  Antagonism  93 

from  Me."  He  followed  Him  to  the 
Cross;  and  the  presence  of  this  relent- 
less, uncompromising,  persistent  foe  is 
to  be  detected  in  that  agonized  prayer  of 
the  Son  of  God:  '*  My  God,  My  God, 
why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me  ?"  Never — 
until  back  from  Hades  and  the  shades 
of  black  darkness  the  conquering  Man 
came,  holding  in  His  own  pierced  right 
hand  the  keys  of  darkness  and  death — 
did  these  forces  leave  Him  or  cease  their 
attempts  to  conquer  and  spoil  the  life  of 
the  Son  of  God. 

(4)  But  I  have  another  word  to  say 
about  evil  as  revealed  in  that  temptation. 
Not  only  do  I  find  its  effrontery,  subtlety, 
and  persistence,  but  its  folly.  See  the 
folly  of  evil  when  compared  with  right- 
eousness. Mark  how  Satan,  subtle  be- 
yond our  comprehension,  has  only  three 
avenues  of  attack;  for,  remember,  these 
are  typical,  and  no  soul  in  the  history  of 
the  world  has  ever  been  tempted  except 
along  one  of  these — Bread,  Office,  Trust. 
That  is  the  threefold  attack  of  the 
devil  from  the  first  to  the  last.    Physical, 


94  Life  Problems 

mental,  spiritual.  He  has  never  yet  un- 
derstood the  omnipotence  of  a  soul 
"homed"  in  God.  That  pure  white 
Soul  in  the  wilderness  cannot  be  beaten 
so  long  as  He  abides  in  God.  Satan 
himself  has  not  measured  the  depth,  the 
infinity,  the  boundless  spaces  of  the 
Most  High,  or  he  never  would  have  com- 
menced the  struggle  between  his  own 
comparative  weakness,  and  the  almighti- 
ness  of  God  and  righteousness. 

Then  we  are  to  remember  that  these 
forces  that  are  coming  against  us  are 
characterized  by  their  marvellous  ef- 
frontery. When  you  feel  you  are  safest 
from  the  attack  of  Satan,  you  are  most 
in  danger  of  becoming  a  victim  to  his 
wiles.  Show  me  the  man  who  has  had 
some  spiritual  experience — call  it  con- 
version or  second  blessing,  or  anything 
you  please— and  who,  coming  out  of  that 
experience,  says,  "Now  am  I  safe.  1 
have  passed  the  region  of  temptation;  I 
have  gained  the  mastery " :  and  I  show 
you  the  man  in  supremest  danger.  It  is 
the  man  who  clings  tenaciously,  out  of 


Spiritual  Antagonism  95 

the  agonized  sense  of  his  own  weakness, 
who  is  strong;  and  not  the  man  who 
stands  erect,  and  says  temptation  can 
have  no  power  on  him.  Satan  has  no 
respect  for  any  building,  or  convention, 
or  religious  frame  of  mind  man  has  ever 
possessed.  The  pure  soul  of  Jesus  was 
met  with  temptation  when  the  Divine 
voice  had  been  heard,  and  the  Divine  ap- 
proval declared. 

Remember  also,  that  these  foes  are 
subtle  beyond  all  our  knowing.  Oh,  we 
are  so  sure  the  devil  cannot  overcome  us 
in  certain  ways;  and  we  are  quite  right. 
Here  is  one  man  standing  up  in  the  great 
consciousness  of  his  strength,  and  being 
very  angry  with  the  man  who  has  failed. 
The  man  who  never  felt  the  fire  and 
thirst  for  drink  moving  in  his  veins,  pro- 
nounces his  small  anathema  upon  the 
drunkard  in  his  cups,  and  says  that  Satan 
cannot  tempt  him  like  that.  And  he 
will  never  try!  He  is  not  such  a  fool! 
But  he  has  tempted  thee,  and  thou  art 
falling — falling  of  pride  and  self-suffi- 
ciency, as  thou  dost  dare  to  pass  thy 


96  Life  Problems 

sentences  upon  thy  fallen  brother.  Do 
not  forget,  the  devil  will  not  attack  thee 
upon  the  place  where  thou  art  strongest. 
He  will  come  where  the  door  is  weakest 
in  its  fastenings,  and  smite  the  chain  on 
the  link  where  the  flaw  is  hidden. 

Remember  this,  too:  his  temptations 
are  always  based  upon  that  which  is 
right.  I  believe  if  young  men  only 
learned  that  secret  of  temptation,  it 
would  be  a  great  help  to  them.  He  sug- 
gests that  you  should  do  something. 
Now,  everything  is  primarily  right.  It 
is  perfectly  right  to  have  bread;  to  get 
the  governments;  and  to  trust  God. 

As  to  his  persistency.  Dear  child  of 
God,  hast  thou  been  following  for  forty, 
or  even  fifty,  years  in  His  footsteps  ? 
Thou  art  not  safe.  The  devil  will  still 
dog  your  pathway.  Upon  the  very  ap- 
proach to  the  pearly  gates  he  will  suggest 
a  lie  and  a  blasphemy. 

Remember  also  his  folly;  but  that  will 
be  more  clearly  seen  as  we  think  for  a 
moment  how  the  conquest  of  evil  is  re- 
vealed in  this  same  story. 


Spiritual  Antagonism  97 

II 

How  was  it  that  this  Man  conquered  ? 
And  the  answer  can  be  given  in  a  very 
few  sentences.  It  is  the  simplicity  of 
the  method  that  is  its  grandeur  and  its 
strength.  First  of  all,  Jesus  conquered 
because,  as  the  prophet  Isaiah  said  of 
Him,  '•  He  was  keen  of  scent  in  the  fear 
of  the  Lord."  He  recognized  a  tempta- 
tion to  evil  when  He  was  asked  to  make 
bread.  He  was  asked  to  satisfy  a  nght 
craving  in  a  wrong  way.  God  had  led 
Him  by  the  Spirit  into  the  wilderness 
to  fast.  To  feed  when  God  said  fast, 
was  to  sin.  This  may  appear  a  matter 
of  small  moment,  but  it  is  the  basis  of 
all  evil.  There  is  no  essential  evil.  Evil 
is  forevermore  a  prostitution  of  right. 
Evil  is  an  abuse  of  a  good  gift.  Bread  ? 
Certainly;  but  if  God  has  said  fast,  then 
there  must  be  no  bread,  even  though 
death  come  on  apace. 

It  was  in  the  attempt  to  draw  Him 
from  the  will  of  God  that  the  temptation 
was  centred ;  and  Jesus,  '  *  keen  of  scent  in 
the  fear  of  the  Lord,"  detected,  by  reason 


98  Life  Problems 

of  His  habitual  communion  with  God,  by 
reason  of  the  Divine  atmosphere  in  which 
He  lived  and  moved  and  had  His  being — 
the  evil  that  those  not  living  so  might 
have  missed.  My  brother,  if  you  are  to 
overcome,  you  must  live  with  God,  and 
must  become  "  keen  of  scent  in  the  fear 
of  the  Lord."  How  often  people  have 
said  to  me,  and  I  dare  say  you  have  heard 
it  also,  **But  I  was  tempted,  and  I  fell 
before  I  knew  it."  Quite  true.  It  has 
been  the  story  of  many  a  sin  in  my  own 
life.  I  was  in  the  mire  before  I  knew  it. 
I  ought  to  have  known  it.  Had  1  been 
living  in  God,  and  depending  on  God 
when  the  slightest  breath  of  evil  came,  1 
ihould  have  detected  it.  "To  be  fore- 
warned is  to  be  forearmed."  To  be 
conscious  of  your  enemy  is  to  be  half- 
way to  being  victorious  over  him.  Jesus 
lived  in  the  Divine,  and  detected  the  evil. 
Again,  He  had  one  refuge  from  all 
attacks;  and  that  refuge  was  the  Divine 
will.  Whatever  the  attack,  He  remained 
there.  He  dwelt  within  the  stronghold 
of  the  Divine  government;  and  within 


Spiritual  Antagonism  99 

that  stronghold  no  force  was  able  to 
overcome  Him;  and  no  attack,  however 
violent,  could  shake  the  foundations  of 
eternal  righteousness  and  eternal  justice, 
as  evidenced  in  the  will  of  God.  "  Com- 
mand these  stones  that  they  be  made 
bread."  *'It  is  written,  'Man  shall  not 
live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  Word 
that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of 
God.'"  "My  life  is  not  the  life  you 
think  it  is.  O  Satan;  you  imagine  My 
life  is  physical,  and  needs  bread.  That 
is  the  probationary  basis  upon  which  life 
is  being  created  and  fashioned.  Man 
does  not  live  by  bread  alone":  and  so 
He  abode  in  the  will  of  God,  refusing 
every  alluring  call.  Staying  there,  He 
became  more  than  Conqueror  over  the 
forces  that  assailed  Him. 

Ill 
Now  the  gospel  message  for  us  is  that 
of  Hebrews.  "He  has  suffered  being 
tempted,  and  now  He  is  able  to  succor." 
How  can  He  succor  ?  I  can  only  answer 
this  in  sentences.     Given  the  soul  that 


100  Life  Problems 

yields  to  Him,  what  are  the  methods  by 
which  He  succors  that  soul  in  the  hour 
of  temptation  ?  First,  He  cleanses  the 
nature;  secondly.  He  restores  that  soul 
to  its  true  environment,  and  makes  it 
conscious  of  God;  and  then — oh,  let  me 
put  it  simply,  I  do  not  want  any  one  to 
miss  this,  as  the  supreme  thought  of  this 
study — then  He,  by  His  Spirit,  takes  up 
His  abode  within,  and  fights  the  battle 
and  gets  the  victory.  When  the  enemy 
comes  in  like  a  flood,  He  lifts  up  His 
standard  against  him.  And  so,  when  I 
am  victorious  over  the  assaults  of  spirit- 
ual antagonism,  it  is  not  because  I  am 
strong,  but  because  I  have  given  the  key 
of  the  citadel  into  the  hands  of  the  thorn- 
crowned  King,  and  He  locks  the  door 
and  Himself  holds  it;  and  when  the 
enemy  seeking  spiritual  devastation 
comes  against  me  t(?  assault  my  soul, 
and  blight  my  life,  and  mar  my  charac- 
ter, it  is  not  I  that  live,  but  Christ  that 
liveth  in  me;  and  He  repeats  the  con- 
quest of  the  wilderness,  and  scatters  my 
foes  like  chaff  before  the  wind. 


Spiritual  Antagonism         101 

Thy  secret  place  of  victory,  O  my  soul, 
is  not  the  place  where  thou  shalt  assert 
thy  strength;  it  is  the  place  where  thou 
shalt  assert  the  strength  of  thy  Master, 
and  put  Him  as  thy  shield  for  evermore 
to  quench  the  fiery  darts  of  the  evil  one, 
and  make  Him  the  Captain  of  thy  salva- 
tion to  strike  thy  blow  for  thee,  and  get 
for  thee  thy  victory.  The  whole  story 
of  victory  over  spiritual  antagonism  is 
clearly  put  in  these  words:  "Submit 
thyself  unto  God;  resist  the  devil,  and 
he  will  flee  from  thee." 


V 

INFLUENCE 


"For  as  by  one  man's  disobedience  many  were 
made  sinners,  so  by  the  obedience  of  One  shall  many 
be  made  righteous." — Rom.  v.  19, 


INFLUENCE 

We  now  proceed  to  consider  the  facts 
of  heredity  and  environment  from  an- 
other standpoint;  no  longer  as  they 
affect  us,  but  as  through  us  they  affect 
others.  **No  man  liveth  unto  himself." 
Lonely,  isolated  life  is  an  absolute  im- 
possibility by  the  very  nature  of  man — 
an  impossibility  which  has  been  proven 
in  every  successive  generation,  in  all 
lands,  and  among  all  peoples.  The  life 
of  every  man  is  affecting,  as  well  as  be- 
ing affected  by,  other  persons.  We  de- 
sire to  acquaint  ourselves  with  the  true 
Christian  position  in  regard  to  this  sub- 
ject of  our  influence. 

We  shall  firstly  then  state  the  case; 
secondly,  examine  it;  and  thirdly,  con- 
sider   solemnly  the  responsibilities  en- 
tailed upon  every  one  of  us. 
105 


106  Life  Problems 

I 

*' As  by  one  man's  disobedience  many 
were  made  sinners,  so  by  the  obedience 
of  One  shall  many  be  made  righteous." 
The  simple  statement  of  the  text  is  that 
man  is  a  centre  and  source  of  influence. 
The  federal  heads  of  the  human  race — 
the  representative  men  through  all  the 
ages— are  held  up  to  our  view,  not  only 
that  the  apostle  may  make  a  great  theo- 
logical statement;  but  in  order  that  we 
may  see  them  to  be  what  they  really  are 
— each  of  them  typical  men. 

The  statement  is  not  merely  a  declara- 
tion that  we  have  inherited  from  Adam 
tendencies  to  sin,  and  from  Christ  re- 
demptive forces.  It  is  that,  but  it  is 
much  more:  namely,  an  announcement 
that  the  positions  they  occupied  were  typ- 
ical and  representative  of  the  position 
that  '^^very  man,  woman,  and  child  occu- 
pies ilso.  By  disobedience  the  first  man 
wrought  havoc  amid  those  that  followed 
him.  By  obedience  the  second  has  pro- 
duced the  wondrous  results  which  have 
made  the  desert  blossom  as  the  rose,  and 


Influence  107 

rivers  of  water  to  spring  in  dry  and  soli- 
tary places. 

The  influence,  in  each  case,  was  de- 
termined by  the  life.  Disobedience  be- 
gat disobedience;  obedience  was  the 
generating  force  of  obedience.  From 
the  breaking  of  law  arose  not  only 
sin  in  the  individual  case,  but  in  the  in- 
fluence exercised;  and,  therefore,  in  suc- 
ceeding generations.  From  the  keeping 
of  law  comes  the  righteousness  which 
has  restored  man  to  communion  with 
God.  This  is  true,  not  only  in  the  one 
supreme  example  of  the  life  of  the  Christ, 
but  in  all  the  men  who  have  heard  His 
voice,  and  been  obedient  to  Him. 

Every  man  is  a  new  starting-point  for 
good  or  for  bad  in  the  history  of  the  hu- 
man race.  I  am  the  heir  of  all  the  ages 
past.  I  am  also  a  starting-point  for  ages 
to  come.  I  have  inherited  forces  with- 
out having  been  consulted.  I  shall  also 
transmit  to  other  ages  by  the  effect  of 
my  life  to-day,  and  by  the  influence  that 
I  am  exerting  upon  those  who  touch  me 
at  every  point,  forces  which  will  either 


108  Life  Problems 

make  or  mar  the  human  race;  which  will 
be  for  the  upHfting  or  degradation  of  un- 
told thousands  of  my  kind.  It  is  a  prin- 
ciple of  which  one  must  speak  in  the 
first  person  singular,  in  order  to  lead 
thought  in  the  line  of  individual  applica- 
tion. 

It  is  not  for  me  merely  to  declare  a 
theory,  but  for  us  to  isolate  ourselves; 
and,  in  the  presence  of  God  to  face  this 
fact,  *'No  man  liveth  unto  himself." 
Every  one  of  us  exerts  influences  which 
will  have  their  effect  upon  other  lives, 
and  the  generations  yet  unborn  will  be 
lifted  nearer  God  or  thrust  into  deeper 
darkness,  because  we  have  lived  and 
moved  and  had  our  being  on  this  earth. 

II 

So  far  we  have  stated  the  philosophy 
of  the  subject.  Let  us  now  make  appli- 
cation of  the  same  to  our  everyday  life. 
We  spoke  of  heredity  so  far  as  it  affects 
us.  Let  us  now  remember  that  we,  too, 
are  transmitting  forces,  tendencies,  bi- 
ases, to  those  who  come  after  us.     Your 


Influence  109 

disposition — whatever  that  may  be,  you 
know;  your  supreme  tendencies — what- 
ever they  are,  you  know  also;  your  char- 
acter— all  these  influences  are  being  re- 
peated by  the  very  fact  of  your  life. 

Human  life  is  for  evermore  going  out 
and  touching  other  human  life,  taking 
hold  of  it,  moulding  it,  and  repeating  it- 
self upon  it.  Two  men  cannot  live  to- 
gether in  close  companionship  for  many 
years  without  each  becoming  somewhat 
what  the  other  is.  True  that  the  stronger 
will  impress  itself  more  deeply  on  the 
weaker;  but  the  stronger  will  partake 
something  of  the  weaker  likewise. 

It  is  a  common  everyday  truth  which 
has,  perhaps,  its  supreme  illustration  in 
the  consideration  of  child-life.  How 
often  we  are  driven,  if  we  preach  the 
gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  get  among  the 
children  for  the  learning  of  our  lessons. 
It  becomes  necessary  that  we  do  as  the 
Master  did  by  the  seashore — call  the 
child,  who  plays  amid  the  pebbles,  and 
put  it  into  the  midst  of  the  disciples,  that 
they  may  learn  the  lessons  of  the  King- 


110  Life  Problems 

dom.  It  is  impossible  for  any  man, 
whatever  his  position  in  the  realm  of 
thought  may  be,  to  deny  that  men  be- 
queath to  their  children  their  disposi- 
tions, their  tendencies,  their  character. 
We  agree  that  we  have  received  these 
things  from  those  that  have  gone  before 
us.  In  common  honesty,  and  by  a  log- 
ical sequence,  from  which  there  can  be 
no  possible  escape,  we  must  also  agree 
that  we  are  transmitting  them  to  those 
who  are  following  us. 

Not  only  is  it  true  of  heredity,  but  also 
of  environment.  You  communicate  your 
ideal  to  your  friend;  and  the  man  who 
works  with  you,  and  hears  your  conver- 
sation, and  watches  your  habits  of  life, 
will  take  from  you  your  estimate  of  hu- 
man life,  and  of  the  hereafter.  All  the 
history  of  social  life  witnesses  to  this. 

But  all  this  is  so  commonplace  and 
ordinary.  We  have  heard  it  so  many 
times  before;  we  were  warned  by  our 
fathers  and  mothers,  and  told  in  the  Sab- 
bath-school class,  and  have  heard  it  from 
preachers   incessantly,  that  we  have  an 


Influence  111 

influence.  But  may  we  not  thrust  this 
closer  home,  and  say  there  is  one  inexor- 
able law  that  men  have  not  believed,  al- 
though they  have  heard  it  perpetually — 
of  the  effect  of  influence — and  that  inex- 
orable law  may  be  written  off  in  this 
form:  /  am  only  able  to  exert  the  in- 
fluence of  my  true  self.  How  many  a 
man  imagines  he  can  influence  his  neigh- 
bor by  what  he  says  to  him !  He  cannot. 
How  many  a  man  dreams  he  can  in- 
fluence children  by  the  precepts  that  fall 
from  his  lips!  Child-life  is  never  so  in- 
fluenced. One  step  further.  How  many 
a  man  imagines  he  can  influence  his  chil- 
dren, friends,  neighbors,  acquaintances, 
by  what  he  desires  they  should  think  him 
to  be!  No  man  does  so  influence  any  of 
his  fellows.  How  many  a  man,  for  many 
long  years,  has  kept  up  an  outward  ap- 
pearance of  morality  and  respectability 
yea,  even  of  religion,  while  his  heat 
has  not  been  cleansed;  and  in  the  dee«^ 
recesses  of  his  nature  there  have  lurked, 
dominating  all  the  impulses  of  that  life, 
things  low,  and  base,  and  impure!     Tell 


112  Life  Problems 

me,  how  has  that  man  influenced  othei 
men  ?  Has  he  influenced  them  by  what 
he  has  appeared  to  be,  or  by  what  he  has 
really  been  ?  Without  a  moment's  hesi- 
tation, I  assert  he  has  influenced  men  by 
what  he  has  been  within  himself.  Not 
by  the  appearance  which  was  a  lie,  but 
by  the  baseness  which  was  the  truth  of 
his  life  has  he  influenced  children,  and 
friends,  and  acquaintances. 

You  may  take  that  truth  and  turn  it  in 
another  form,  if  you  will;  and  I  know 
this  other  side  is  a  more  startling  thing 
to  orthodox  believers  than  the  first. 
Here  is  a  man  who  tells  me  he  is  not 
a  Christian;  but  who,  when  the  King 
begins  to  analyze  these  little  words  of 
human  speech — that  have  never  given 
utterance  to  the  deep  things  of  human 
life — will  be  found  to  have  meant,  "/ 
am  not  what  Christianity  has  too  often 
seemed  to  be,  a  contradiction  of  Jesus 
Christ."  But  that  man  by  sweetness  of 
life,  pureness  of  thought,  and  upright- 
ness of  living,  has  been  exerting  an  in- 
fluence upon  others;  and  in  the  name  of 


Influence  113 

the  influence  he  has  exerted,  notwith- 
standing the  denial  of  his  lips,  I  claim 
him  as  one  of  Christ's  men. 

When  we  reach  the  Judgment-seat  of 
Jesus  Christ,  we  shall  have  a  great  many 
startling  surprires;  and  what  one  of  the 
"old  fathers "  said  will  be  true  again  and 
again.  "  Met'iinks  I  shall  see  three  won- 
ders developed— and  the  first  wonder 
will  be  that  I  have  ever  reached  its  shin- 
ing shore;  the  second,  that  I  shall  miss 
large  numbers  that  1  thought  were  going 
there;  and  the  third  will  be  that  I  shall 
meet  large  numbers  that  1  never  thought 
to  see  there."  Do  not  let  us  forget  that. 
Christ  came  to  create — not  a  creed,  not  a 
formula  of  doctrine,  not  a  profession  in 
orthodoxy  which  may  become  the  most 
veritable  heterodoxy,  but  —  character. 
Oh  that  we  could  write  that  in  letters  of 
living  flame  across  the  sky,  that  all  men 
might  see  it!  What  a  man  is,  is  the  one 
question  with  God;  and  if  through  the 
bungling  mistakes  of  so-called  Christen- 
dom pure  souls  have  been  driven  from 
our    Shibboleths;    if    they    have    found 


114  Life  Problems 

righteousness  all  unknowingly  through 
Jesus  Christ,  and  have  exerted  an  in- 
fluence that  has  drawn  men  to  God — I 
claim  them  as  Christ's  own  men  by  the 
influence  they  have  exerted. 

Does  not  the  Master  give  His  positive 
sanction  to  influence  as  a  supreme  test, 
when  He  says,  "  He  that  is  not  with  Me 
is  against  Me;  and  he  that  gathereth  not 
with  Me  scattereth  abroad."  Did  He  not 
mean  to  say,  **  If  a  man  gathers  with  Me, 
he  is  with  Me  ";  even  though,  perchance, 
the  disciples  said,  "We  had  better  de- 
stroy him  with  our  fire,  because  he  fol- 
lOweth  not  with  us  " ;  and  the  Master  re- 
buked them,  and  said,  "Ye  know  not 
what  manner  of  spirit  ye  are  of." 

If  a  man  is  base,  and  impure,  and  sor- 
did, and  evil  in  himself,  then  all  his 
church-membership  and  all  his  profes- 
sion is  as  nothing.  Men  will  be  moved, 
not  by  what  a  man  says,  nor  by  what  a 
man  says  he  is,  but  by  what  he  actually 
is.  I  claim  that  this  is  an  inexorable  law 
of  influence — that  a  man  exerts  upon 
other  people  the  influence  of  what  he  is, 


Influence  *      115 

and  not  the  influence  of  what  he  says,  or 
even  of  what  he  says  he  is. 

We  must  all  exert  influence,  whether 
we  will  or  no.  You  cannot  shut  your- 
self up  from  other  men  unless  you  actu- 
ally betake  yourself  away  from  them.  It 
is  impossible,  in  this  age,  with  humanity 
so  inter-related  as  it  is.  Take  the  sim- 
plest illustration,  and  think  of  how  many 
men  you  have  to  do  with  on  any  given 
day:  think  of  the  men  who  call  at  your 
door  and  leave  the  necessities  of  life  for 
you;  and  the  men  who  come  to  your 
office  to  see  you  on  business;  and  the 
men  of  whom  you  ask  your  way  in  the 
street;  and  the  man  who  drives  you: 
and  remember  you  never  touch  a  man 
without  influencing  him. 

F.  B.  Meyer  has  said,  that  the  extra 
sixpence  to  the  cabman  has  done  more 
for  Christianity  than  his  preaching  on 
many  occasions.  Think  it  out.  You  in- 
fluence every  man  you  touch  by  the  way  ^f^" 
you  look  at  him,  and  speak  to  him;  and  '" 
all  the  time  the  influence  you  are  exert- 
ing is  welling  up  out  of  your  actual  self. 


116       '       Life  Problems 

and  you  cannot  prevent  it.  If  thou 
knowest  that  thou  art  impure,  know  this 
also,  that  thy  impurity  is  contagious. 
Thou  canst  not  conceal  in  thy  breast  im- 
purity and  say,  **  I  will  be  impure  here, 
and  not  influence  others."  It  spreads 
like  the  contagion  of  a  fever,  unknown 
as  to  the  moments  of  its  going,  but 
deadly  in  the  effects  it  produces. 

Ill 

What,  then,  is  the  duty  that  this  great 
truth  of  influence  entails  upon  every  one 
of  us?  Does  it  not  contain  a  rousing 
call  to  self-examination  ?  Perfect  collec- 
tivism can  only  grow  out  of  the  perfect- 
ing of  individualism.  You  never  can 
have  a  society  organized  to  perfection. 
It  must  grow  to  perfection  through  the 
growth  of  the  individuals  that  form  it. 

If  that  be  true — and  who  will  deny 
it.^ — then  collectivism,  society  at  large, 
has  a  right  to  make  distinct  and  force- 
ful demands  upon  every  single  indi- 
vidual. Society  has  a  right  to  say  to 
every  soul,  "Soul,  for  our  sake,  for  the 


Influence  117 

sake  of  the  larger  whole,  be  pure  and 
strong."  No  man  has  a  right  to  say  he 
is  master  of  himself,  that  he  may  please 
himself.  The  larger  law,  the  more  bind- 
ing law,  is  that  law  that  demands  purity 
from  the  individual,  for  the  sake  of  so- 
ciety. To  exert  a  destructive  influence 
is  the  most  terrible  sin  that  is  possible  to 
any  man.  No  man  has  any  right  to  per- 
petuate evil.  If  the  influence  of  your  ll<*e 
is  an  impure  one,  by  the  necessity  oi' 
your  own  character,  one  of  two  things 
you  should  certainly  do.  You  should 
either  go  to  the  great  source  of  purifica- 
tion, or  take  yourself  away  from  home, 
and  friends,  and  society,  and  live  out  all 
the  remainder  of  your  impure  days  in  the 
desert  place,  in  order  that  the  foul  in- 
fluence of  your  soul  may  not  contaminate 
other  men.  "No  man  liveth  unto  him- 
self"— let  me  repeat  the  solemn  words — 
and  society  has  a  right  with  myriad- 
tongued  voice  to  call  on  thee,  "O  soul  of 
man,  be  pure  and  strong  and  true,  not 
merely  for  thy  own  sake,  but  for  the 
sake  of  the  world." 


118  Life  Problems 

My  influence  is  tested  by  my  relation- 
ship to  this  text.  I  shall  exert  a  pure, 
strong  influence  upon  my  fellow-men,  if 
I  am  an  obedient  soul.  I  shall  exert  an 
impure  influence  upon  them,  notwith- 
standing all  other  influences,  if  I  am  a 
disobedient  soul.  What  I  want  to  press 
upon  your  attention,  and  your  thought, 
is — your  responsibility  in  this  matter. 
Men  do  not  come  to  Jesus  Christ — as 
witness  the  whole  history  of  the  preach- 
ing of  His  Cross, — until  they  feel  deep 
in  their  own  spirit  the  need  of  His  won- 
drous work.  It  was  not  idly  spoken  in 
the  early  days  that  repentance  toward 
God  should  come  before  faith  toward 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Nor  was  it  idly 
spoken  hundreds  of  years  before  the 
Master  came,  when  the  prophet,  address- 
ing the  people  of  his  time,  said,  "  Let  the 
wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  un- 
righteous man  his  thoughts,  and  let  him 
return  unto  the  Lord." 

Until  men  have  seen  their  own  indi- 
vidual helplessness,  there  will  be  no 
coming  to  the  rivers  of  cleansing  and  the 


Influence  119 

life  of  Christ  for  tlie  power  that  is  n  3ces- 
sary  for  pure,  strong  living.  Then  fore, 
I  charge  upon  you  again,  in  conclusion, 
this  solemn  warning — not  only  that  you 
are  exerting  an  influence,  but  that  you 
are  responsible  for  that  influence.  Oh, 
my  brother,  if  you  have  an  impure  pa  it 
behind  you,  if  you  are  weakened  by  the 
unholiness  of  bygone  days,  with  not 
only  your  reputation,  which  matters 
little,  but  your  character,  which  matters 
much,  stained,  and  dwarfed,  and  de- 
formed, and  belittled  by  evil — I  pray  you 
to  be  heroic  f,nough  to  say,  '*!  will  not 
transmit  my  own  folly  and  my  own  sin 
to  succeeding  generations."  I  ask  you, 
is  your  life  an  impure  life  ?  Then,  if 
you  have  no  longer  any  care  for  your 
own  soul's  highest  welfare;  if  the  desire 
within  yojr  heart  for  the  ''whatsoever 
things"  tnat  are  pure,  and  high,  and 
noble,  an  J  of  good  report,  has  been  ex- 
tinguished; if  the  flame  that  trembled 
Godward  has  died  upon  the  altar  of  your 
own  heart  so  that  you  love  not  purity, 
but  revel  in  impurity — I  call  upon  you 


120  Life  Problems 

again  from  another  standpoint.  In  com- 
mitting thine  own  suicide  thou  art  also 
committing  murder.  If  thou  hast  no 
love  for  thyself,  wilt  thou  not,  O  man, 
for  the  sake  of  the  little  ones  glancing 
around  in  your  path,  in  need  of  a  friend 
and  guide;  for  the  sake  of  those  children 
whose  lives  are  being  touched  by  your 
life  every  day — wilt  thou  not  seek  purity 
for  the  sake  of  others;  and,  if  not,  then 
the  devoutest  prayer  that  I  can  pray  for 
thee  is  that  God  will  move  thee  from  the 
scene  of  life  ere  the  contagion  has  spread 
too  far. 

There  can  be  no  more  solemn  and 
heart-searching  enquiry  than  upon  this 
subject  of  influence.  Will  you  face  this 
great  fact,  that  your  life  is  making  or 
marring  others,  and  you  are  responsible  ? 

Says  some  one,  "  I  know  my  own  im- 
purity, but  I  have  received  it;  I  know 
my  own  wrong,  but  it  is  the  result  of  the 
position  I  have  occupied  in  life.  The 
bloom  was  brushed  away  before  I  knew 
its  value,  and  I  have  become  impure  al- 
most   unconsciously."     Wijl    you    hear 


Influence  121 

again  the  old  message,  full  of  tenderness 
and  God's  own  music?  "To  the  house 
of  Israel " — that  is,  to  the  children  of 
faith — "there  is  opened  a  fountain  for 
sin  and  for  uncleanness." 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  you  can  be 
so  transformed  that  you  will  stand  erect 
immediately  in  all  the  vigor  and  glory 
of  ideal  manhood:  that  is  impossible. 
There  are  Christians  who  have  been 
following  Christ  for  months,  ay,  for 
years,  who  are  still  suffering  limitations 
as  the  result  of  their  sin  in  the  days 
gone  by.  Some  of  us,  alas!  alas!  will 
carry  to  the  grave  the  scars  of  the  wounds 
of  our  own  mad  folly  in  y^ars  that  have 
now  almost  faded  from  our  memory; 
but  into  the  secret  chambers  of  the  b^ing 
there  will  come,  to  those  who  open  vide 
the  door,  the  purifying  power  of  the 
Spirit  of  God.  He  comes  to  put  away 
transgression;  to  cleanse  the  heart;  to 
transmute  the  base  and  the  debased  into 
the  purified  and  the  clean.  And  how? 
Tell  me,  how  can  this  be  ?  It  is  not  for 
me  to  attempt  to  explain  the  alchemy  of 


122  Life  Problems 

the  Divine  work.  I  cannot  do  it.  1 
know  the  laws  of  the  Kingdom,  and 
them  I  can  announce  to  you. 

I  know  that  within  the  sphere  where 
these  laws  operate  there  is  abundance  of 
cleansing,  and  power;  but  how  God 
works  1  cannot  tell.  I  cannot  tell  you  all 
the  mystery  of  the  healing  and  the  puri- 
fying work  of  the  incoming  Spirit.  Canst 
thou  tell  me  why  the  violet,  hiding  its 
head  beneath  the  hedgerow,  is  of  tender 
and  beauteous  hue;  and  why  the  lily 
growing  in  your  garden  is  fleecy  white  ? 
Canst  thou  tell  me  how  life  perfumes  yon 
flower,  so  tiny  that  you  hardly  see  it,  and 
refuses  to  perfume  the  gorgeous  flower 
that  blossoms  on  your  lawn  ?  Hast  thou 
no  explanation  for  God's  working  ?  You 
may  count  the  petals  on  the  rose  and  tell 
ihe  story  of  floriculture  and  cultivation, 
but  behind  all  your  schemes  is  the  touch 
of  the  Divine,  the  presence  of  God;  and 
as  thou  canst  not  explain  the  painting  or 
scenting  of  the  flowers,  and  the  working 
behind  the  thousand  mysteries  of  beauty 
and  nature,  neither  can  I  tell  you  how 


Influence  123 

God  will  come  into  your  soul  and  purify 
it.  What,  then,  is  the  law  of  His  com- 
ing ?  It  is  the  one  simple  law  of  abso- 
lute abandonment  of  self  to  His  Kingship, 
His  government,  and  His  will — that  thou 
mayest  be  what  the  Man  of  Nazareth,  and 
Capernaum,  and  the  Wilderness,  of  the 
Market  Place,  and  Gethsemane,  and  Cal- 
vary, intended,  so  that  thou  shalt  be  an 
obedient  child.  Cease  thy  proud  rebel- 
lion against  the  will  of  God;  and,  com- 
mitting thyself  to  Him,  without  question 
as  to  the  form  and  fashion  of  His  re- 
making of  thee,  trust  His  will  and  won- 
drous love,  and  lean  on  His  almighty 
power. 

In  so  doing  thou  shalt  fulfill  His  law, 
and  out  of  that  obedience  shall  come  the 
cleansing  of  thy  nature ;  the  putting  away 
of  thy  sin;  the  commencement  of  that 
new  life  which  shall  exercise  an  influence 
— pure,  and  strong,  and  high,  and  lovely 
— which  shall  stretch  out  far  beyond  the 
little  years  of  thy  life,  into  God's  great 
eternity. 


VI 

DESTINY 


"  And  He  saith  unto  me,  Seal  not  up  the  words  ot 
the  prophecy  of  this  Book ;  for  the  time  is  at  hand. 
He  that  is  unrighteous,  let  him  do  unrighteousness 
yet  more :  and  he  that  is  filthy,  let  him  be  made 
filthy  yet  more  :  and  he  that  is  righteous,  let  him  do 
righteousness  yet  more  :  and  he  that  is  holy,  let  him 
be  made  holy  yet  more.  Behold,  I  come  quickly, 
and  My  reward  is  with  Me,  to  render  to  each  man 
according  as  his  work  is." — Rev.  xxii.  10-12. 


VI 

DESTINY 

The  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,  which 
He  sent  and  signified  to  His  servant  John, 
has  to  do,  for  the  most  part,  with  things 
yet  to  come — with  the  end  of  the  present 
age,  and  the  ushering  in  of  the  new  and 
golden  day.  The  awful  pronouncement 
contained  in  the  central  of  these  three 
verses,  has  special  reference  to  the  seal- 
ing of  character  that  will  take  place  at  the 
advent  of  Jesus  Christ — using  that  word 
advent  in  its  largest  sense,  a  sense  em- 
bracing the  varied  aspects  of  His  second 
coming.  That  coming  of  Christ  will  be 
a  decisive  moment  to  millions;  fixing 
iheir  character  unalterably  and  for  ever. 
All  men  wait  in  the  purpose  and  counsel 
of  God  for  the  coming  of  Jesus.  There 
have  been  events  in  history,  of  which  we 
speak  as  remarkable  and  epoch-making. 

127 


128  Life  Problems 

In  the  great  movement  and  purpose  of 
God,  the  last  great  event  was  the  Incar- 
nation— the  first  advent — and  the  next 
will  be  the  Return  of  the  Lord — the  sec- 
ond advent.  The  present  dispensation  is 
one  which  takes  its  meaning  and  its  char- 
acter from  the  first,  and  will  find  its  cdm- 
summation  and  its  crowning  in  the 
second. 

Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  is 
not  the  first  of  the  dispensations  of  God, 
neither  is  it  the  last;  and  the  ultimate 
Divine  purpose  for  humanity  is  not  to  be 
accomplished  in  this  dispensation  of  the 
Spirit.  There  have  been  revealed  to  us, 
in  hints,  and  pictures,  and  symbols,  and 
in  a  few  direct  and  forceful  words,  the 
fact  of  other .  Divine  movements,  even 
when  the  catholic  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
is  completed,  and  the  specific  and  special 
dispensation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  at  an 
end.  But  we,  of  course,  are  interested 
principally  in  the  dispensation  in  which 
we  live;  and  of  all  peoples  of  the  earth, 
none  are  more  deeply  involved  in  the 
conditions  and  movements  of  this  age. 


Destiny  129 

because  it  has  pleased  God  in  His  gov- 
ernment of  the  nations,  and  His  selection 
of  peoples  for  the  carrying  out  of  His 
purposes,  to  set  upon  us  the  choicest  of 
His  blessings,  and  to  cause  us  to  live  in 
the  brightest  light,  even  of  this  Christian 
era.  Therefore,  while  in  a  study  such  as 
this,  other  themes  will  suggest  them- 
selves, and  other  problems  arise— such 
as  the  position  of  the  heathen,  dead,  and 
living,  at  the  coming  of  Christ,  and  the 
new  conditions  obtaining  after  His  ad- 
vent— we  must  turn  from  all  of  these, 
keeping  our  attention  fixed  upon  this 
fact:  that  the  verse  which  we  have  now 
to  consider  is  one  that  has  tOAwith  the 
present  dispensation  only,  and  specially 
with  those  people  on  the  earth  who  have 
actually  lived  within  its  light,  and  there- 
fore have  known,  theoretically,  its 
method  and  its  meaning. 

At  the  coming  of  Jesus  Christ,  all  the 
great  forces  of  which  we  have  spoken  in 
previous  discourses — the  forces  which 
counteract  heredity,  environment,  and 
create  right  influence — will  be  withdrawn 


130  Life  Problems 

in  the  withdrawal  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Beyond  that  withdrawal  there  will  be 
new  dispensations  and  movements  of 
the  Divine.  But  we,  for  all  practical 
purposes,  in  the  consideration  of  the 
greatest  of  all  subjects,  that  of  our  des- 
tiny, have  only  to  do  with  the  dispensa- 
tion in  which  we  live.  Men  and  women 
are  passing  away  from  the  scene  of  their 
probation;  a  probation  spent  in  the  light 
of  the  gospel  truth.  These  men  and 
women,  as  they  pass  beyond  the  action 
of  these  forces  of  the  Spirit  in  grace, 
abide  in  exactly  the  same  condition  as 
that  in  which  death  finds  them,  until  the 
second  advent  of  Jesus  ends  this  dispen- 
sation and  ushers  in  the  new. 

Human  life,  shorter  or  longer,  accord- 
ing to  Divine  arrangement,  is  a  period 
granted  to  beings — the  meaning  of  whose 
existence  stretches  far  out  beyond  the 
fleeting  years  of  that  life — in  which  to 
create  their  own  character,  their  own 
eternity;  and  thus  each  one  has  the 
power  to  make  his  own  future.  Let  us, 
first  of  all,  consider  what  probation  is. 


Destiny  131 

in  order  that  we  may  secondly  consider 
how  destiny  grows  therefrom;  and  in 
the  third  and  last  place,  make  an  appli- 
cation of  this  consideration  to  our  present 
attitude. 

1 

We  have  said  that  this  present  life  of 
ours  is  the  life  of  probation.  It  is  well 
that  we  should  understand  the  character 
of  that  probation.  In  this  series  of 
papers  we  have  taken  those  verses  in  the 
writings  of  the  apostle  which  hold  Jesus 
Christ  and  Adam  before  us  as  being 
heads  of  the  race — we  have  spoken  of 
them,  one  as  the  child  of  disobedience, 
the  other  of  obedience;  transmitting  the 
forces  of  their  own  lives  to  others,  and 
each  answering  to  environment — in  one 
case  to  the  true,  and  in  the  other  to  the 
false;  in  one  case  being  wrecked,  in  the 
other  victorious;  and  from  these  two 
typical  cases  we  have  drawn  certain  les- 
sons which  apply  to  ourselves. 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  the  proba- 
tion of  Adam  and  of  Christ  both  differed 


132  Life  Problems 

from  ours.  Each  stood  upon  his  own 
responsibility,  the  first  man,  as  we  be- 
lieve, having  a  perfect  start,  with  no 
tendencies  inherited  that  would  conspire 
to  wreck  his  life — with  the  most  perfect 
environment  that  man  has  ever  known, 
for  the  creation  of  the  tested  and  victo- 
rious character  which  God  was  seeking. 
Jesus  Christ  Himself  embarked  upon  hu- 
man life  as  a  child — passing  through  boy- 
hood and  manhood  up  to  maturity;  but, 
nevertheless,  because  He  ever  dwelt  in 
the  true  environment — that  of  the  pres- 
ence of  God  consciously  known — He 
stood  upon  His  own  responsibility. 

It  is  not  so  with  us.  We  are  born 
with  tendencies  which  we  did  not  choose, 
and  which,  propelling  us,  force  us  along 
the  lines  of  action  against  which  our  bet- 
ter nature  rebels.  We  are  surrounded 
from  birth  with  certain  influences  that 
play  upon  us  before  we  understand  the 
meaning  of  them,  or  have  learned  to  deal 
with  them  for  the  making  or  marring  of 
our  character. 

What,  then,  is  probation  to  us  ?    It  is 


Destiny  133 

an  opportunity  for  the  play  of  the  forces 
of  grace  upon  characters  which  are 
ruined  from  the  outset.  I  need  not  stay 
to  discuss  the  awful  fact  of  the  ruin  of 
character  at  the  beginning.  All  the  mys- 
tery and  the  meaning  of  it,  who  shall 
tell  ?  We  simply  face  the  fact  that  the 
tendency  of  human  nature  is  to  wrong, 
rather  than  to  right;  that  the  whole 
human  race  leans  downward  by  the  fallen 
nature  into  which  it  is  born,  rather  than 
soars  upward  and  heavenward.  Yet, 
side  by  side  with  that  fact,  is  the  other 
fact  of  which  we  have  been  speaking, 
that  God  has  put  into  operation  forces 
for  the  re-making  of  character,  which 
are  superior  to  anything  inherited — su- 
perior to  any  surroundings;  so  that  the 
soul  coming  into  living  contact  with 
those  forces  may  rise  superior  to  inherit- 
ance, and  overcome  all  contradictory  en- 
vironment. 

Between  these  two  sets  of  forces  each 
one  of  us  stands;  and  the  action  of  either 
upon  our  character  will  depend  entirely 
upon  our  will.     Amid  the  wreckage  of 


134:  Life  Problems 

human  nature  there  is  one  vital  element 
remaining — that  which  lifts  humanity 
above  the  level  of  all  other  creation,  and 
makes  it  almost  Divine — the  element  of 
will!  That  has  not  been  wrecked  or 
ruined.  Man  still  has  his  will — warped, 
bent,  inclined  to  evil,  it  may  be;  but  re- 
maining, so  that  if  a  man  will  yield  him- 
self to  the  forces  of  evil,  they  will  work 
upon  his  life  and  blast  his  character:  or, 
if  a  man  will  yield  to  the  grace  of  God 
and  to  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
then  those  forces  will  make  his  character. 
Between  these  forces  each  man  stands  in 
the  days  of  probation,  having  still  his 
will,  and  being  able  to  choose  definitely 
\or  himself  whether  he  will  be  marred  by 
evil  or  made  by  good;  whether  he  will 
become  the  slave  of  evil,  losing  his  power 
of  will  in  slavery  to  the  evil  he  chooses; 
or,  whether  he  will  become  the  bond- 
slave of  Jesus  Christ,  his  will  yielded 
to  Kingly  dominion,  and  so  learn  un- 
der that  blessed  constraint  to  love  the 
things  that  make  for  fair  and  strong 
character. 


Destiny  135 

My  use  of  probation  is  described  by 
the  phrase  of  the  text:  "  He  that  is  un- 
righteous; he  that  is  righteous."  It  can- 
not, in  either  case,  be  construed  into 
/meaning,  "He  that  is  in  his  nature  right- 
eous or  unrighteous";  for  every  man 
enters  upon  life  with  his  will  between 
these  forces,  and  his  nature  ready  to  re- 
spond to  the  one  or  to  the  other,  as  his 
will  directs.  It  does  mean  that  he  who 
has  refused  the  grace  of  God^  and  chosen 
deliberately  the  forces  of  evil,  is  the  man 
who  is  unrighteous,  because  he  has  been 
borne  along  in  the  current  to  which  he 
has  committed  himself.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  who  has,  by  an  action  of  the 
will,  surrendered  himself  to  the  currents 
of  grace  and  the  forces  of  purity,  is  ren- 
dered righteous  by  those  very  forces  to 
which  he  has  committed  himself.  My 
probation  is  not  the  probation  of  a  per- 
fect being,  standing  entirely  alone.  It  is 
that  of  a  man  who  begins  life  with  an 
inheritance  that  hinders,  and  also  with 
grace  that  can  overcome  that  inheritance; 
with  an  environment  that  tends  to  de- 


136  Life  Problems 

grade,  and  with  another  environment 
which  is  able  to  negative  the  force  of  the 
first:  and  upon  the  action  of  his  will  de- 
pends the  issue. 

II 

Out  of  that  conception  of  probation 
grows  the  necessity  for  a  solemn  con- 
sideration of  destiny.  A  man's  destiny 
is  created  by  his  use  of  probation.  There 
is  a  moment  when  the  Divine  fiat  goes 
forth,  and  probation  ends— and  where  a 
man  is  at  that  moment,  his  character  is 
fixed,  not  in  degree,  but  in  direction — 
and  that  Divine  word  is  never  spoken 
until  I  have  irrevocably  chosen  for  myself. 
God  never  draws  the  line  across  human 
probation  until  the  set  determination,  the 
whole  sweep  of  the  will,  has  decided 
what  that  final  character  is  to  be;  but  the 
moment  God  draws  that  line,  then  in  that 
chosen  direction  man  moves  on;  only  he 
that  is  unrighteous  is  to  be  still  more  un- 
righteous, and  he  that  is  righteous  is  to 
be  still  more  righteous. 

The  one  thought  that  I  want  to  fix  in- 


Destiny  137 

delibly  upon  your  minds  is  this— Destiny 
is  fixed  by  the  choice  of  the  human  will, 
which  selects  for  itself  its  heaven  or 
hell.  Thus  each  one  of  us  is  building 
character  forever.  Those  who  are  yield- 
ing to  the  forces  around  that  mar  the 
life,  do  so  absolutely  of  their  own  free 
choice. 

Note,  then,  the  awful  responsibility  of 
their  action.  They  are  not  choosing  for 
the  moment  only,  but  for  the  morrow, 
and  for  the  next  day,  and  the  next,  for 
the  years  that  lie  ahead,  and  the  ages  that 
are  beyond!  It  can  all  be  altered  now; 
but  the  day  is  coming  when  we  shall  no 
longer  have  the  opportunity  of  choosing. 
When  is  that  day  of  destiny  ?  None 
can  say.  That  secret  nestles  within 
the  heart  of  God;  only  He  knows  the 
point  that  marks  the  end  of  man's  pro- 
bation. 

This  much  is  certain;  probation  will 
never  end  until  the  soul  has  deliberately 
chosen  with  the  force  of  eternity;  then 
there  is  no  drawing  back.  No  words 
more  full  of  infinite  meaning  ever  fell 


138  Life  Problems 

from  the  lips  of  Jesus  Christ  than  these, 
"  He  that  sinneth  against  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  in  danger  of  eternal  sin."  Not,  as  we 
have  it,  "eternal  damnation,"  but  "eter- 
nal sin." 

It  is  possible  for  the  will  of  man — so 
magnificent  is  that  will  in  its  construc- 
tion, so  marvellous  in  its  powers — de- 
liberately to  choose  evil;  and  to  choose 
it  so  completely  with  such  utter  aban- 
donment to  it  as  to  pass  out  into  un- 
known ages  of  pain  and  misery.  There 
is  no  word  in  the  Bible  that  exactly  fits 
with  our  word  eternal.  The  strongest 
word  that  we  have  is  age-long;  and  no 
man  has  any  right  to  do  other  than  leave 
the  issues  of  the  eternities  with  God.  In 
the  ages  that  baffle  our  contemplation, 
there  are  men  who  will  deliberately 
choose  evil;  and  the  progression  of  evil 
beyond  will  multiply  and  enlarge,  and 
there  will  be  no  drawing  back.  Destiny 
is  being  created  by  the  choice  you  are 
making  now.  We  act  as  though  mo- 
ments came  to  us  to  be  smiled  or  sobbed 
av/ay,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  then  to 


Destiny  139 

be    done    with    forever.     It  is   not   so. 
Montgomery  sang  truly  when  he  sang — 

"  'Tis  a  mistake  :  time  flies  not, 
He  only  hovers  on  the  wing: 
Once  born,  the  moment  dies  not, 
'Tis  an  immortal  thing." 

So  that  the  moment,  here  and  now  pres- 
ent, in  which  I  choose  good  or  evil, 
purity  or  pollution,  has  its  blossoming 
beyond  this  life  altogether.  That  is  the 
true  view  of  human  life.  We  have 
treated  it  as  though  it  were  fleshly,  car- 
nal; as  though  such  things  were  the  sum 
and  substance.  What  awful  madness! 
Life  is  the  workshop  of  eternity;  the  \ 
time  for  making  destiny;  and  the  result  -^ 
will  be  in  accordance  with  the  deliberate 
choice  of  the  individual  will  for  evil  or 
for  good. 

This  law  of  probation  and  destiny 
operates  through  all  the  region  of  human 
life.  Do  we  not  see  it  operating  in  lower 
matters.^  We  have  an  old  saying  that, 
"The  boy  is  father  to  the  man."  It  is 
perfectly  true.    We  are  but  **  children  of 


140  Life  Problems 

a  larger  growth."  What  the  boy  is — in 
temperament,  in  character,  in  the  essen- 
tials of  his  hfe — he  will  be  in  manhood's 
days.  At  thirty,  we  are  told,  a  man's 
habits  are  fixed  and  his  character  formed; 
and  it  is  remarkably  true  in  the  realm  of 
Christianity  that  the  majority  of  people 
who  are  Christians  were  born  again  be- 
fore they  had  reached  thirty  years  of 
age.  I  do  not  know  whether  that  has 
ever  occurred  to  you.  After  that  age, 
the  number  is  very  small  as  compared 
with  the  company  of  those  who  join 
Christ's  army  when  the  glory  of  youth  is 
on  their  brow.  It  is  infinitely  harder  to 
get  a  man  who  has  gone  over  the  borders 
of  thirty  years  to  turn  to  God  than  it  is 
to  lead  a  boy  to  Christ. 

May  I  not  turn  aside  and  say  here  to 
every  father  and  mother:  Do  not  forget 
that.  While  those  bairns  are  round  your 
knee  at  home,  train  their  thoughts  in  the 
right  direction.  Get  the  boys  and  girls 
who  gather  in  your  class,  teacher,  and 
fill  the  opportunity  of  service  they  pre- 
sent to  you,  as  though  you  knew  their 


Destiny  141 

eternal  destinies  hung  upon  what  you  do 
for  them  now;  for  it  is  possible  thaf  you 
will  not  be  able  easily  to  change  their 
course  at  a  later  period.  I  make  reverent 
and  thankful  allowances  for  grace.  In 
some  cases  men  have  not  only  passed 
thirty  years,  but  have  reached  the  allotted 
span  of  three-score  years  and  ten,  and 
yet  have  found  the  purifying  grace  of 
God;  but  by  comparison  it  is  a  rare  oc- 
currence. Let  me  repeat,  and  leave  this 
point  with  that  repetition,  that  the  vast 
majority  of  people  who  yield  themselves 
to  Christ,  do  so  on  the  sunny  side  of  the 
thirtieth  milestone  of  their  life's  journey. 
So  you  have  the  law  at  work  already. 
Character  is  tending  to  permanence;  and 
when  a  man  once  chooses,  it  is  difficult 
for  him  to  go  back  upon  his  choice.  It 
is  a  terrible  law;  but  we  are  bound  to 
face  it.  Question  the  wisdom  of  it,  if 
you  dare;  but  the  fact  remains,  and  the 
fact  of  law  is  the  proof  of  its  wisdom — 
for  all  law  is  of  God.  Every  time  I 
choose,  it  becomes  harder  work  to  go 
back  upon  my  choice;  and  the  further  I 


142  Life  Problems 

go  along  the  line,  whether  of  right  or  of 
wroi^g,  the  harder  it  is  to  turn  back  from 
that  line.  The  choice  made  freely,  now 
becomes  a  bond  and  a  bias.  I  choose 
again  in  the  same  direction,  and  to-mor- 
row it  is  harder  to  turn  back  than  it  is 
to-day;  and  so  character  is  tending  to 
permanence:  and  every  hour  is  sealing  it 
upon  us  in  a  way  that,  if  we  did  but  real- 
ize it  as  we  ought,  would  appal  us,  and 
drive  us  to  heart-searching  before  God. 

At  the  coming  of  Jesus  Christ,  when 
we  appear  before  Him,  He  will  simply 
pronounce  upon  us  the  sentence  which 
we  have  already  deliberately  chosen.  At 
the  judgment-bar  of  Jesus  Christ  no  wit- 
nesses will  be  called.  Why  not?  Be- 
cause none  will  be  needed.  We  do  not 
see  each  other  as  we  really  are.  We 
look  at  faces,  and  upon  them  we  see 
character,  to  some  extent;  but  behind 
the  story  of  the  faces  is  the  story  of  mo- 
tive, and  intention,  and  aspiration,  of 
determination  and  of  will.  These  are 
things  we  do  not  see.  We  cannot  pene- 
trate their   hiding-place.     No   man   has 


Destiny  143 

seen  God  at  any  time!    No  man  has  seen 
his  brother-man  at  any  time! 

When  we  arraign  a  criminal  in  one  of 
our  Courts  of  Justice,  we  call  our  wit- 
nesses, and  the  judge  will  sum  up,  and 
the  jury  will  base  their  decision  upon  evi- 
dence given  as  to  the  hearing  of  the  ear, 
and  the  seeing  of  the  eye.  No  other 
judgment  than  that  is  possible.  All  sen- 
tences pronounced,  all  decisions  arrived 
at,  are  concluded  upon  the  evidence  which 
comes  from  the  seeing  of  the  eye  and  the 
hearing  of  the  ear.  How  different  the 
judgment  of  the  Eternal !  Out  of  the  old 
Hebrew  prophecies  hear  this  great  word: 
"And  He  shall  not  judge  after  the  sight 
of  His  eyes,  neither  reprove  after  the 
hearing  of  His  ears."  When  men  come 
to  the  bar  of  God,  they  will  not  come 
wondering  what  the  verdict  will  be,  or 
what  the  sentence  to  be  pronounced. 
That  verdict  and  sentence  will  not  depend 
upon  the  words  spoken  by  witnesses. 
The  facts  of  their  character  will  be  at 
once  verdict  and  sentence.  The  Judge 
will  pronounce  upon  them  the  sentence 


144:  Life  Problems 

which  they  have  already  pronounced 
upon  themselves  by  their  choice.  This 
principle  is  revealed  in  Matthew's  account 
of  the  judgment  of  the  nations  (see  chap. 
XXV.).  The  King  will  say  not,  ''Cursed 
are  ye  " — He  has  never  pronounced  such 
a  curse  at  all,  but  *'  Depart,  ye  cursed  " — 
cursed  before  the  word  is  spoken.  How 
cursed  ?  Cursed  by  their  own  choice,  by 
taking  into  their  own  life  the  forces  of 
evil;  by  surrendering  themselves  to  the 
forces  that  make  for  evil;  and  so  render- 
ing themselves  insensible  to  the  need  of 
the  suffering  "least  of  His  brethren": 
cursed,  not  by  God,  but  by  themselves: 
literally  suicides,  because  they  have 
yielded  themselves  to  the  awful  forces 
that  mar  and  spoil  human  nature.  **  Come, 
ye  blessed":  not  "  Blessed  are  ye";  but 
"Ye  are  blessed  by  your  own  choice." 
To  those  that  choose,  in  the  probation  of 
grace,  the  forces  that  make  and  remake 
and  build,  God  extends  the  sweet  invita- 
tion of  His  "Come";  but  to  the  others 
He  gives  the  terrible  command  to  "De- 
part"   No  witnesses  will  be  called;  for 


Destiny  145 

all  souls  will  stand  naked  in  the  presence 
of  the  Judge,  and  will  come  to  the  judg- 
ment-seat with  sentence  already  decided 
by  the  deliberate  choice  of  their  own  free 
will. 

We  are  on  our  way  straight  to  the 
place  of  judgment;  and,  of  our  own 
choice,  deliberately  move  to  the  right  or 
to  the  left.  There  is  to  be  no  selective 
separation  by  Divinity.  There  is  to  be 
selective  separation  by  the  spirits  of  men 
and  women  themselves.  "  He  that  is  right- 
eous, let  him  be  righteous  still;  but  he 
that  is  unrighteous,  let  him  be  unright- 
eous still. '^  And  a  man  is  righteous  be- 
cause he  has  yielded  himself  to  the  forces 
of  righteousness;  or,  he  is  unrighteous 
because  he  has  yielded  himself  to  the 
forces  of  unrighteousness.  Thus  we 
build  our  character,  and  create  our  own 
destiny,  and  prepare  our  own  eternity. 

Ill 

In  these  busy  days  that  seem  to  come 
and  go  with  ever-increasing  rapidity,  and 
which  we  treat  as  though  they  were  op- 


146  Life  Problems 

portunities  for  the  indulgence  of  carnal 
appetites  merely,  you  hear  men  talk  about 
"  killing  time."  Oh,  better  kill  anything 
than  time;  better  waste  anything  than 
the  moments  lit  as  yet  with  the  light  of 
hope;  better  fritter  away  any  wealth  that 
happens  to  be  in  your  possession,  than 
these  days  overflowing  with  the  grace 
and  tenderness  of  God;  for  every  day  is 
an  opportunity  to  choose,  and  each  choice 
is  the  building  of  another  stone  into  the 
foundation  work,  on  which  eternity  will 
erect  the  structure,  a  structure  true  to  the 
character  of  the  foundation  laid. 

Is  it  not  true  that  at  the  judgment-throne 
of  Jesus  Christ  all  extenuating  circum- 
stances will  be  taken  into  account  ?  As- 
suredly it  is !  The  greatest  joy  I  have  as 
I  look  upon  that  judgment-throne  is  the 
joy  that  comes  from  the  certainty  that  I 
shall  be  judged,  not  upon  testimony  re- 
ceived, but  on  the  essential  facts  of  my 
life  and  choice.  No  single  factor  which 
has  made  it  difficult  or  easy  for  me  to 
choose  will  be  left  out  of  account.  The 
place  of  my  birth,  my  parentage,  the  op- 


Destiny  147 

portunities  granted,  the  use  made  of  them 
— everything  will  be  taken  into  account, 
and  the  bases  of  judgment  for  men  and 
women  dwelling  in  these  lands  of  privi- 
lege, and  for  those  living  in  the  heart  of 
heathen  countries,  will  be  the  same  in 
this  sense,  that  God  will  judge  men  right- 
eously and  justly,  according  to  the  oppor- 
tunities they  have  had.  It  is  that  very 
identity  of  eternal  justice  which  will  dif- 
ferentiate between  the  responsibilities  of 
the  one  class  and  of  the  other.  God  will 
not  expect  from  that  man  who  has  never 
heard  the  sound  of  Jesus'  name,  the 
same  report  of  himself  at  the  Great  White 
Throne  as  He  will  from  you,  who  have 
been  familiar  with  Him.  Certainly,  ex- 
tenuating circumstances  will  be  taken  into 
account;  but,  remember  this:  Jesus  said, 
speaking  of  the  Spirit,  "When  He  is 
come.  He  will  convict  the  world  in  re- 
spect of  sin,  and  of  righteousness,  and  of 
judgment."  Now,  that  is  one  of  the 
phrases  which  is  perpetually  misquoted. 
Almost  every  one  puts  in  two  words 
which  rob  it  of  its  force  and  meaning. 


148  Life  Problems 

People  say,  **Of  righteousness,  and  of 
judgment  to  come.'* 

The  judgment  of  which  He  spoke  was 
not  to  come,  but  judgment  accomplished: 
"The  prince  of  this  world  is  judged." 
When,  therefore,  we  speak  of  this  as  the 
day  of  grace,  let  us  remember,  it  is  the 
day  of  grace  because  judgment  is  pro- 
nounced already  upon  evil,  by  the  victory 
of  Jesus.  If  we  deliberately  make  choice 
of  evil,  then  must  we  share  the  judgment 
passed  upon  evil  now,  at  the  Great  White 
Throne,  and  forever;  but  if  we  choose  to 
yield  to  the  authority  of  the  Vanquisher 
of  evil,  then  are  we  lifted  into  the  sphere 
of  His  resurrection  life,  which  is  the  life 
of  absolute  victory  over  all  the  forces  that 
are  against  us. 

How  does  this  affect  the  plea  of  ex- 
tenuating circumstances  }  If  a  man  is  to 
set  up  this  plea  he  must  apply  it,  not  to 
half  the  case,  but  to  the  whole;  not 
merely  to  the  forces  that  were  against, 
but  also  to  those  which  were  for  him. 

The  man  who  pleads  extenuating  cir- 
cumstances, and  who  continues  in  his 


Destiny  149 

wrongdoing  because  of  that  plea,  by 
that  very  action  makes  it  impossible  that 
those  extenuating  circumstances  should 
be  allowed.  What  would  you  say  of  a 
man  who,  tempted  to  the  breaking  of 
the  law  of  the  land,  says,  "  I  am  driven 
to  this  crime;  it  will  be  all  right,  the 
judge  will  take  into  account  the  extenuat- 
ing circumstances,  and,  therefore,  I  will 
do  it "  ?  The  judge  would  say,  "  By  that 
deliberate  choice,  you  denied  the  extenu- 
ating circumstances;  for  had  they  been, 
the  act  would  have  been  sudden  and 
swift,  and  repented  of."  He  that  chooses 
deliberately  to  do  wrong,  because  of  ex- 
cuses he  may  be  able  to  plead,  proves 
there  was  no  necessity  for  the  wrongful 
act.  The  man  who  has  time  to  calculate 
upon  extenuating  circumstances  has  more 
than  time  to  put  himself  into  treaty  and 
contact  with  the  forces  of  grace,  which 
are  superior  to  all  such  circumstances. 
God  can  excuse  no  man  who,  pleading 
excuses  in  order  that  he  may  do  these 
evil  things,  does  not  tell  the  whole  story 
of  the  case.     The  strict  justice  that  will 


150  Life  Problems 

make  all  allowance,  also  demands  that 
we  shall  make  full  use  of  the  forces  that 
God  has  put  into  operation  for  us,  and 
which  lie  close  to  our  hand. 

There  is  no  thought  of  the  future  so 
full  of  solemn  heart-searching  power  as 
this  of  permanence  of  character.  Do 
you  choose  impurity  in  any  of  its  forms  ? 
Then  you  choose  it,  not  for  to-day,  but 
forever.  Do  you  choose  purity  at  any 
cost  ?  Then  you  choose  it,  not  for  to- 
day, but  forever.  The  issue  of  this  mo- 
mentous choice  lies  beyond  all  time  and 
all  scenes  that  fade.  How  this  lifts  my 
present  life  into  the  most  lurid  and  awful 
light !  What  am  I  here  for  ?  I  am  here 
that  I  may  prepare  for  all  that  lies  beyond. 
What  does  to-morrow  bring  to  me  ? 
Business  hours,  do  you  say  ?  Opportu- 
nities for  hard  work,  and  beyond  that, 
rest  ?  Nay,  verily :  to-morrow  brings,  if 
its  light  shall  dawn,  further  hours  to 
choose,  not  for  to-day,  but  forever.  I 
choose  as  I  stand  here  in  the  pulpit.  You 
choose  as  you  sit  in  the  pews.  And  our 
choice  does  not  end  with  the  selection  of 


^Destiny  151 

this  or  of  that,  it  runs  out  into  the  eter- 
nities. 

The  ultimate  issue  of  every  action  of 
every  day  is  not  what  it  seems  to  be  in 
the  view  of  men  and  women  whose  vi- 
sion is  bounded  by  the  horizon  of  proba- 
tional  life;  but  the  true  issue  of  these  do- 
ings of  to-day  is  the  character  that  exists 
hereafter.  Have  I,  then,  to  build  my 
own  character,  to  construct  my  own 
eternity,  to  make  for  myself  my  heaven 
or  my  hell?  Assuredly  I  have!  Then 
how  long  will  God  give  me  in  which  to 
do  it?  How  long  will  He  allow  me  in 
which  to  build  and  create  that  destiny  ? 
Not  an  hour;  not  a  moment.  A^ow  is  the 
only  word  that  God  speaks  to  human 
souls.  "  But,"  you  say,  "  I  cannot  build 
character  in  an  hour;  I  cannot  undo  what 
has  been  done  in  the  past  in  a  moment. 
How  can  I  ?  "  Now  !  It  is  here  to  undo 
or  do;  to  break  down  or  to  build  up.  In 
God's  now,  ever  present  with  you,  never 
far  away,  this  moment  you  can  will. 
Beyond  thdXyou  can  do  nothing.  But  in 
the  plan  of  God  that  is  enough!     You 


152  Life  Problems 

will,  and  force  responds  to  your  will. 
You  say,  "I  will  take  the  way  of  sin"; 
and  immediately  all  the  disintegrating 
forces  of  sin  begin  to  play  with  your 
moral  fibre  and  rob  you  of  the  force  to 
will  anything  but  that  which  you  have 
now  **  willed."  Or,  you  say,  "  I  will  be 
righteous,"  and  then  the  stronger  forces 
of  grace  begin  their  work  upon  you;  to 
build  up  where  you  have  broken  down; 
to  repair  the  ruined  structure  of  your 
character:  and  so  every  moment  is  a  mo- 
ment in  which  I  am  to  will,  and  every 
crisis  is  a  crisis  in  which  I  am  to  will; 
and  to  my  will  respond  forces  of  evil  or 
forces  of  righteousness,  according  to  the 
way  I  will. 

How,  then,  shall  we  "will"  ?  There, 
on  the  one  hand,  stretches  the  path — 
easy  and  flowery  and  filled  with  music, 
so  men  tell  us — a  path  that  needs  no  her- 
oism. If  I  will  that,  then  that  is  the  is- 
sue as  well  as  the  crisis :  and  away  to  the 
other  side  stretches  the  path  that  is  rough 
and  thorny — so  men  tell  us — the  path 
that   demands   nerve,  and  is  shadov/ed 


Destiny  153 

with  conflict  and  strife.  If  I  will  that, 
then  that  is  the  issue  as  well  as  the  crisis. 
But  that  is  not  the  true  story  of  either 
of  these  paths.  1  have  simply  for  a  mo- 
ment taken  the  popular  conception  of 
them.  Hear  another  story  of  this  path, 
so  flowery  and  radiant  with  light  and 
color,  and  vibrating  with  music.  "The 
way  of  transgressors  is  hard  " — not  the 
end  of  it,  but  the  way  itself.  Hunger, 
dissatisfaction,  disappointments,  are  its 
concomitants  ;  and  the  soul  is  never  at 
rest.  Well,  if  1  choose  it,  that  is  the  issue 
as  well  as  the  crisis.  What  of  this  other 
path .?  It  is  the  path  of  perfect  peace, 
where  harmony  is  substituted  for  strife, 
and  the  storms  are  swallowed  up  in 
peace,  "  the  peace  of  God  which  passeth 
all  understanding";  and  if  I  will  that, 
that  is  the  issue  as  well  as  the  crisis. 
The  one  leads  to  the  everlasting  hunger, 
and  the  other  to  the  everlasting  rest. 

God,  in  Christ,  bends  over  man  in  in- 
finite pity — over  the  man  whom  He  has 
created  in  His  own  image,  endowing 
him   with  power  to  will,  and  He  says. 


164  Life  Problems 

"Wilt  thou  be  made  whole  ?"  and  I  turn 
my  back  to  the  allurements  of  this  side 
that  leads  to  evil  and  to  hunger,  and  I 
say,  "  O  Nazarene,  Thou  hast  conquered 
by  an  infinitude  of  love;  and  if  out  of  the 
wreckage  of  my  life  Thou  canst  create 
character  that  abides,  I  give  myself  to 
Thee,  and  I  '  will '  to  follow  Thee."  That 
path  leads  right  on  to  the  eternal  rest.  I 
choose  in  the  pulpit;  and  you  cannot  help 
me.  You  must  choose  in  the  pew;  and 
I  cannot  help  you.  God  help  preacher 
and  people  alike  to  choose  aright. 


^ 

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Impressionistic  personal  recollections  of  half-a-hundred 
missionaries  who  were  in  the  foreign  field  at  least  as  early  as 
fifty  years  ago.  The  world  that  regards  the  missionary  simply 
as  a  religious  teacher  needs  to  know  how  much  commerce, 
science,  scholarship,  literature,  and  in  fact  many  of  our  comforts 
of  life  owe  to  the  comprehensive  service  of  these  noble  heroes  of 
the  nineteenth  century. 

Border  Lines  in  the  Field  of  Doubt- 
ful Practices,    cloth,  gold  top,  ^i.oo. 

''Easily  at  the  head  of  the  many  books  that  have  been  writ- 
ten on  doubtful  amusements.  Dr.  Trumbull's  long  experience 
has  furnishsd  for  the  book  hundreds  of  telling  anecdotes,  his 
sunny  temper  kceps^it  from  even  the  suspicion  of  sternness  and 
gloom,  and  through  it  all  is  a  sturdy  common-sense  which  com- 
pels assent."— T/b*  C.   E.  ff^orld. 

Illustrative  Answers  to  Prayer.    A 

Record  of  Personal  Experiences.  Uniform 
with  «*  Prayer:  Its  Nature  and  Scope." 
i6mo,  cloth,  6oc. 

"  The  little  book  is  worthy  of  a  place  alongside  George 
MuUer's  '  Life  of  Trust.'  Its  autobiographical  instances  are 
most  confirmatory  of  faith,  and  every  example  given  of  definite 
answers  to  prayer  is  so  presented  as  to  bring  out  a  fresh  and  im- 
portant principal  in  Christian  living." — The  C.  E.  IVorld. 

Prayer :  Its  Nature  and  Scope.    i6mo, 

cloth,  6oc. 

"One  of  the  most  helpful  and  uplifting  little  books  that 
have  come  to  our  table  in  a  long  time  is  '  Prayer  '  by  H,  Clay 
Trumbull.  It  is  a  book  which  we  would  like  to  place  in  the 
hands  of  every  Christian," — The  Churchman. 


FLEMING   H.   REVELL   COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  CHICAGO  TORONTO 


Date  Due 

"" 

— '■    '*  1 

^^* 

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